India releases simulation software for solar thermal power plant

New computer simulation software for design optimization of solar thermal power plants was launched by Mr. Deepak Gupta, Secretary, Ministry of New & Renewable Energy, Government of India in New Delhi on July 25, 2011.

The software is equipped to handle user defined configurations and carrying out optimization through multiple simulation approach under Indian climatic conditions. It will be useful to various stakeholders for design optimisation of solar thermal power plants.

The software was developed as part of the R&D project titled “A megawatt-scale national solar thermal power research facility” sanctioned by the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy to IIT Bombay in 2009 with total project cost of over Rs 40.0 crore ($ 9 mn) for a duration of five years. The project aims at to establish a solar thermal power test facility at Solar Energy Centre of the Ministry.

IIT Bombay is implementing the project in a consortium mode with the participation of several industries including Tata Power, Tata Consulting Engineers, Larsen and Toubro, Heavy water Board and Clique Development Industries.

This facility is one of its kind in whole Asia, and when commissioned, will be used for hands on training of the Indian solar thermal power plant developers. The software will be available through web for use and feedback for its further refinement. It is planned to have advanced versions of the software after incorporating suggestions and feedback received, and to make it more user friendly.

This is a major step forward to develop capacities in the field of solar energy in the country, which would ultimately contribute, to achieving targets of Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM).

Inflation in India - food stable, minerals and manufacturing increased. Inflation continues to be matter of concern: India's Fin Min

Union Finance Minister of India Mr. Pranab Mukherjee said that inflation figures reported for the month of June 2011 continues to be matter of concern. The Finance Minister said that we are monitoring the price situation closely. He said that Government is working together with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI - the apex bank in India) to take appropriate steps to reduce inflation to more comfortable level. 

Mr. Mukherjee was reacting to the figures of headline Wholesale Price Index (WPI) inflation for the month of June, 2011 which were released on July 14, 2011. The WPI inflation for the month of June 2011 stood at 9.44 per cent as against 9.06 per cent in May 2011 and 9.74 per cent in April 2011.

The Finance Minister Mr. Mukherjee said that the reasons for increase in WPI inflation include increase in administered fuel prices, seasonal effects, an upward movement in mineral and manufactured prices and in part reflecting imported inflation. The Finance Minister said that the Food Articles inflation has however stabilised at 8.38 per cent in June 2011 from 8.37 per cent in the last month. 

He said that it was coming down in last two weeks. Primary Articles inflation as a whole is upto 12.2 per cent as compared to 11.3 per cent in the last month, reflecting mainly the effect of increase in mineral prices. Manufactured inflation is slightly up to 7.43 per cent in June 2011 as compared to 7.27 per cent in May 2011. 

Another Asian country - China is also facing the heat of inflation.

The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) is the price of a representative basket of wholesale goods. Some countries (like India and The Philippines) use WPI changes as a central measure of inflation. However, United States now report a producer price index instead.

The Wholesale Price Index or WPI is the price of a representative basket of wholesale goods. Some countries use the changes in this index to measure inflation in their economies, in particular India – The Indian WPI figure is released weekly on every thursday and influences stock and fixed price markets. The Wholesale Price Index focuses on the price of goods traded between corporations, rather than goods bought by consumers, which is measured by the Consumer Price Index. The purpose of the WPI is to monitor price movements that reflect supply and demand in industry, manufacturing and construction. This helps in analyzing both macroeconomic and microeconomic conditions.

The wholesale price index is calculated based on the wholesale price of a few relevant commodities of over 2,400 commodities available.The commodities chosen for the calculation are based on their importance in the region and the point of time the WPI is employed. For example in India about 435 items were used for calcualting the WPI in base year 1993-94 while the advanced base year 2004-05 uses 676 items. The indicator tracks the price movement of each commodity individually. Based on this individual movement, the WPI is determined through the averaging principle.

Voluntarily India has reduced 108 million metric tones of CO2 equivalent over a period of one year, earned more than $ 200 Mn through CER

India is richer by $ 200 Mn by way of earning Certified Emission Reductions (CER) under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) over a period of one year.  As many as 342 projects have been approved with host country approval accounting for 10887923.6 CER during the period of July 13, 2010 to July 13, 2011. Calculating average price of 13 euros per CER, India has earned $ 204.5 Mn and reduced 108 million metric tones of CO2 equivalent during this period.
 

Out of 342 approved projects, 249 projects are from energy industries which include both renewable and non-renewable sources.  Energy Demand category accounts for 19 projects while 18 projects have been approved from manufacturing industries. Waste handling and disposal accounts for eight approved projects while metal production and transport sectors account for one and two projects respectively.
 

Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) are a type of emissions unit (or carbon credits) issued by the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Executive Board for emission reductions achieved by CDM projects and verified by a DOE under the rules of the Kyoto Protocol. CERs can be used by member countries in order to comply with their emission limitation targets or by operators of installations covered by the European Union Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS) in order to comply with their obligations to surrender EU Allowances, CERs or Emission Reduction Units (ERUs) for the CO2 emissions of their installations. CERs can be held by governmental and private entities on electronic accounts with the UN.
 

Out of 342 projects, private projects are sharing the majority. As many as 330 projects have been approved which are basically private projects totaling to 9670957.6 CER. Nine projects have been approved, proposals for which have been floated by various state or local governments of India while only three central government projects have been registered and approved under the manufacturing industries.

As on date, the National CDM Authority has accorded Host Country Approval to 2004 projects amounting to 654407145.99 CER by 2012. Though India does not have emission reduction target under the Kyoto Protocol, however, approved CDM projects have the potential to reduced 650 million metric tonnes of CO2 equivalent by year 2012.
 

Meanwhile, Analysis by Bloomberg New Energy Finance shows that June saw the highest ever volume of carbon allowances (EUAs) traded in the European emissions market. Volumes on the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), which accounts for around 91 per cent of the EU emissions market, reached 654Mt CO2e for June and 78Mt on a single day on June 23 of this year. This beats the previous highs of 584Mt in March 2011 and 53Mt on March 16 this year.
 

These high volumes came about as the market reacted to a combination of influences, including concerns about an oversupply of emission allowances, falling oil prices, the European Commission's proposed energy efficiency package and the precarious state of Greece's economy. This caused to the price of the Dec-11 EUA contract to plummet 22 per cent in five days from €15.65/t on June 17 to €12.26/t on June 24.
Overall the second quarter of 2011 saw volumes of carbon emission rights traded throughout the world decline slightly, by three per cent. The value of the market however increased to €26.4bn, up six per cent from the first quarter of 2011. This rise in market value was driven by higher carbon prices in the European Union emission trading system (EU ETS) in April, May and early June compared to the first quarter of 2011.
 

On average, Dec-11 EUA and CER prices increased by eight per cent and seven per cent respectively in the second quarter compared with Q1. The firm prices were driven by Germany's decision to phase out nuclear power and the expectation that European power companies will need to start buying more allowances to compensate for the lack of nuclear power and the removal of free allocations in 2013 when Phase III of the scheme begins.
 

The main cause of the slight decline in traded volumes in Q2 was the dwindling interest in the market for primary Certified Emission Reduction (CER) credits issued under the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol. With the lack of progress towards a new global climate agreement, transactions of CERs and Assigned Amount Units fell by 5 per cent in Q2 compared with Q1.

Bloomberg New Energy Finance believes that overall the carbon market in 2011 will trade at record levels of around €106bn – an increase of 27 per cent on 2010’s revised figure, driven by a boost in demand for allowances from utilities in the EU ETS.

India releases National Voluntary Guidelines on Social, Environmental & Economic Responsibilities of Business

Corporate Affairs Minister of India Mr. Murli Deora released the “National Voluntary Guidelines on Social, Environmental and Economic responsibilities of Business” that will mainstream the subject of business responsibilities”. At a function held in Ashoka Hotal on July 8, 2011 the Minister expressed the hope that these guideline will strengthen and enable the Indian corporate sector to evolve into a global leader in responsible business. He said the beginning of industrialization marked the transition from merchant charity to industrial philanthropy in India which was more secular, more inclusive in terms of caste, creed and community and more oriented to bringing progress to society through western style modern institutions.

Earlier in June, 2011, IDSTPR in its blog has indicated the the Indian Government is not likely to make Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) mandatory. By enacting a stringent law making CSR mandatory for all polluting companies could have made a huge difference, but the Indian government has chosen not to walk on that direction.

Apart from making political donations for the freedom struggle, business fraternity also contributed towards many of the social and cultural causes. Mahatma Gandhi expounded the theory of trusteeship of wealth. Influenced by his teachings, many businessmen contributed for the cause of removal of untouchability, women’s emancipation and rural reconstruction.

Mr. Deora said his ministry has been pursuing the agenda of providing an effective regulatory framework to the Indian corporate sector that enables them to freely exploit their energies to develop while contributing to the overall growth of the society. He said his ministry has taken a number of initiatives the past few months in the legislative, regulatory, service delivery and capacity building areas. These are aimed to modify and upgrade the procedures and provisions under various Laws are as under:-

(i) Introduction of the online application process for obtaining Director’s Identification Number (DIN), the online payment of fees by companies, the Green Initiative allowing paperless compliance under the Companies Act, 1956 and the Easy Exit Scheme, 2011.

(ii) Initiation of introduction Companies Bill, 2011 in the Parliament. Convergence of Indian Accounting Standards with International Financial Reporting Standards. And launching of Investor Awareness Programmes for the benefit of small and medium investors to safeguard their interest.

(iii) Notification of Merger and Acquisition procedures.

(iv) Also undertaken the Initiative to formulate Policy to appoint at least one woman direction on the Board of Directors if it has five directors.

(v) Formulation of the National Voluntary Guidelines on Social, Environmental and Economic Responsibilities of Business.

He said Public Sector Undertakings have been undertaking CSR activities in a big way. It has been mandated for them to spend 2 per cent of Profit After Tax (PAT) on CSR activities. Their contribution has been noteworthy in this field. The private corporate sector has come a long way from the days of ad hoc charity. The concepts of CSR, corporate citizenship and increasingly, Responsible Business are salient aspects of many companies in India. They undertake the social environmental and economic responsibilities such as establishing charitable trusts, foundations and mega institutions for public causes, directly running community development programmes, forming partnerships with the Government or NGOs, etc.

In his address Mr R.P.N. Singh, Minister of States for Corporate Affairs said the Ministry has formulated the “National Voluntary Guidelines on Social, Environmental and Economic responsibilities of Business” that will mainstream the subject of business responsibilities. He said the guidelines, being released by the Minister for Corporate Affairs, are a refinement over the Corporate Social Responsibility Voluntary Guidelines 2009. These guidelines have been formulated keeping in view the diverse sectors within which businesses operate, as well as the wide variety of business organizations that exist in India today – from the small and medium enterprises to large corporate organizations. The Guidelines are applicable to all such entities, and are intended to be adopted by them comprehensively, as they raise the bar in a manner that makes their value-creating operations sustainable.

In his welcome address, Mr. Manoj K Arora, Director IICA said the release of the guidelines marks an important policy initiative by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. He that the new guidelines have expanded the scope of CSR to cover social, environmental and economic responsibilities of business.'

The Secretary in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Mr. D.K.Mittal said that the guidelines are not prescriptive in nature, but are based on practices that take into account the realities of Indian business and society as well as the global trends and good practices adapted to the Indian context. It urges businesses to embrace the “triple bottom-line” approach whereby its financial performance can be harmonized with the expectations of society, the environment and the people it interfaces with, in a sustainable manner. The adoption of these Voluntary Guidelines would also improve the ability of businesses to enhance their competitive strengths, improve their reputations, their ability to attract and retain talent and manage their relations with investors as well as the society at large.

A large number of corporate representatives and foreign dignitaries including the Sh Anil Agarawal, former President ASSOCHAM, Mr. Bob Hiensch, Ambassador of Netherlands, Senior officials of the Embassies of UK and Germany, Team from World Bank, President of ICAI, Vice President of ICSI, Members of the Board of Governors of IICA were present on the occasion.

Recent Initiatives taken by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs



The Indian economy has expanded at a rapid rate during the current decade and the corporate sector has been the biggest contributor in this growth story.  A significant feature of this growth is the increasing integration of the Indian corporate economy into the global business environment.  While the Ministry of Corporate Affairs is working towards reforming the enabling environment for effective functioning of the corporate sector, simultaneously, there is a strong argument for fostering sensitivity to community and social concerns as a part of the broader objective of inclusive growth. It has been our constant endeavor at the Ministry to consult all the stakeholders in true spirit of our democratic values while undertaking these reform initiatives. The Ministry is also encouraging the corporate sector to take into account the concerns of stakeholders beyond their investors and to demonstrate that responsible business governance can generate value for all the stakeholders. In the long run, this collaborative effort between the government and the corporate sector will become a key multiplier in helping the ‘Aam Aadmi’ participate in the India’s growth story. 

Ministry of Corporate Affairs has been working towards repositioning itself as a significant facilitator in creating a positive and healthy environment for doing business in India by offering an enlightened regulatory regime and efficient services so that the entrepreneurial energies are utilized in creating value for the stakeholders and are not spent in un-knotting the bureaucratic red tapes. A number of initiatives have been taken by the Ministry on legislative, regulatory, service delivery and capacity building sides.



CSR initiatives:

The Ministry has formulated “National Voluntary Guidelines on Social, Environmental and Economic responsibilities of Business” that will mainstream the subject of business responsibilities. The guidelines, released by Mr Murli Deora, Hon’ble Minister for Corporate Affairs on July 8, 2011, are a refinement over the Corporate Social Responsibility Voluntary Guidelines 2009.  These guidelines have been formulated keeping in view the diverse sectors within which businesses operate, as well as the wide variety of business organizations that exist in India today – from the small and medium enterprises to large corporate organizations.  The Guidelines are applicable to all such entities, and are intended to be adopted by them comprehensively, as they raise the bar in a manner that makes their value-creating operations sustainable.

The Guidelines are not prescriptive in nature, but are based on practices and precepts that take into account the realities of Indian business and society as well as the global trends and good practices adapted to the Indian context.  It urges businesses to embrace the “triple bottom-line” approach whereby its financial performance can be harmonized with the expectations of society, the environment and the people it interfaces with, in a sustainable manner. The adoption of these Voluntary Guidelines would also improve the ability of businesses to enhance their competitive strengths, improve their reputations, their ability to attract and retain talent and manage their relations with investors as well as the society at large.

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Recent initiatives on legislative, regulatory, service delivery by the Corporate Affairs Ministry of India

Ministry of Corporate Affairs of India has been pursuing the agenda of providing an effective regulatory framework to the Indian corporate sector that enables them to freely exploit their entrepreneurial energies while contributing to the overall growth of the society. In order to cut time lines in service delivery and give further ease to the stakeholders, we have undertaken various initiatives in the recent past. Some of major initiatives are as under: --

(1)  Green Initiatives in the Corporate Governance :  The Ministry has allowed paperless compliances by the companies and Registrar of Companies under the provisions of the Companies Act, 1956 such as : -

(a)  Allowing service of Documents including Balance Sheets and Auditors report etc through e-mail addresses :   In order to reduce cost of posting and speedy delivery of documents, service of documents through electronic mode has been permitted under section 53 of the Companies Act, 1956 in place of  service of document under certificate of posting.  Similarly, to reduce the consumption of papers and speedy secure delivery,   service of copies of Balance Sheets and Auditors Report etc., to the members of the company as required under section 219 of the Companies Act, 1956 has been allowed to be served through electronic mode by capturing their e-mail addresses available with the depositories or by obtaining directly from the shareholders.

(b) Participation by Directors and shareholders in meetings through video conferencing : In order to provide larger participation and for curbing the cost borne by the Company, Directors, and shareholders to attend various meetings under the provisions of the Companies Act, 1956, participation through video conferencing has been permitted subject to certain compliances.

(c) Voting in General Meeting of Companies through electronic mode :  In order to have secured electronic platform for capturing accurate electronic processes, Central Depository Services (India) Ltd (CDSL)  and National Securities Depositories Limited (NSDL) are being given approval by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs to provide their electronic platform for capturing accurate electronic voting in General meetings of the company.

(d) Issue of Digital Certificates by Registrar of Companies: The Registrar of Companies has to issue a number of certificates to the companies and other stakeholders as required under the provisions of the Companies Act, 1956. In order to cut timelines and an another step towards “Green Initiative”, it has been decided that all certificates and standard letters issued by the Registrar of Companies will now be issued electronically under the Digital Signatures of the Registrar of Companies.

(2)  Simplification in Procedures and Process under Companies Act, 1956: The Ministry has taken following steps to simplify the procedures for the corporate are as under : --

(a)  Incorporation of new Company within 24 hours by end of July, 2011

                i.     Allotment of Director Identification Number (DIN) has been made online by the system once the particulars of the applicant are verified by the practicing professionals.

              ii.      The Ministry is issuing revised guidelines for allotment of name of the company. The name shall be made available online, if the application has been certified by the practicing professional that the proposed name is in conformity with the guidelines. The guidelines shall be implemented by end of July, 2011.

            iii.     A separate e-form is being developed for the Memorandum and Articles of Association and incorporation process will be totally paperless. 

(b)    Issue of License under section 25 (non profit companies) of the Companies Act, 1956 : - Work relating to issue of license under section 25 (non profit companies) has been delegated to ROCs and condition for publication of notice for 30 days in the newspapers  before issue of license have been dispensed with.

(c)       The Director's Relatives (Office or Place of Profit) Amendment Rules, 2011:-   Limit of Directors relatives salary has been enhanced from Rs. 50,000/- per month to Rs. 2,50,000/- per month. Now onwards, for remuneration for relatives of the Directors within the enhanced limit, company need not to approach Ministry for approval.

(d)      Marking a company as having management dispute by Registrar of Companies under MCA-21 system : In order to have uniform practice in all Office of ROCs, clarification has been issued that unless there is a order of the court or the Company Law Board, no company is to be marked as having management dispute by the ROCs.

(e)       Various E-forms are approved online : A number of e-forms which are informative in nature have been processed and approved/ recorded by the Registrar of Companies online and are made available for inspection to the  public immediately.

(f)       Registration of place of business by a foreign company: Registration of place of business by a foreign company has been made priority item and it is registered by ROC on same day.

(g)       Appointment of LLPs of chartered accountants as auditor: After making amendment in definitions of body corporates, Limited Liability Partnerships of chartered accountants will not be treated as body corporate for the limited purpose of section 226(3A) of the Companies Act, 1956, hence they can be appointed as auditor of a company.

(h)  Allotment of Designated Partner Identification Number (DPIN) :Designated Partner Identification Number issued under Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) Act, 2008 has been integrated with DIN. Now (w.e.f. 09.07.2011) only DIN will be allotted under Companies Act, 1956 and the same will be used as DPIN for LLP Act, 2008.

(i)       New Guidelines for Fast Track Exit of defunct Companies : The Ministry has issued guidelines for Fast Track Exit mode to give opportunity to the defunct companies to get their names struck off from the Register under section 560 of the Companies Act, 1956 in time bound manner.

(j)  Special drive to clear pendency: A large number of e-forms filed prior to implementation of revised Regulation 17 are pending for want of action by the companies/stakeholders. Without any response from the companies, ROCs cannot  process the said forms. As per Regulation 17, these forms have become time barred. To reduce the pendency of such e-forms, Ministry has decided to re-open all such pending forms for reviewing by ROCs and disposing them by 7th July, 2011.

(k)      To improve compliances by the company : In order to ensure corporate governance and proper compliances by the companies, it has been decided that w.e.f. 3rd July, 2011, no e-forms shall be accepted by ROC from such companies which have not filed their updated Balance Sheets and Annual Returns since 2006-07. The Directors of such defaulting company shall also be debarred for filing any document unless they make the default good.     

(3) e-Payments in the Ministry:  The payment of filing fee by the companies has been made completely online.

(4)  International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) : In the field of financial reforms, convergence of Indian Accounting Standards called Indian AS’s with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) has been approved by the Ministry in February, 2011. The date of coming in force of Indian Accounting Standards will be notified shortly.

(5) Investor awareness programmes : In order to channelize the significant household savings available with the Indian households into the corporate economy, the Ministry has decided to launch investor awareness programmes in 300 districts in association with ICAI, ICWAI ICSI, Stock Exchanges, RBI, SEBI, Trade Chambers, etc.

(6) The Companies Bill, 2011  : The Companies Bill, 2009 was introduced in the Parliament on 3rd August, 2009 after an extensive stakeholders’ consultation. It was subsequently referred to the Department related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance for examination. The report and the recommendations of the aforesaid Standing Committee have been examined in the Ministry and a revised draft Companies Bill, 2011 prepared in consultation with Ministry of Law (Legislative Department), has been circulated to the various Ministries and Departments for views and comments. Once the consultation with Ministries and Departments are completed, a revised Bill as Companies Bill, 2011 is proposed to be introduced in the next session of the Parliament after obtaining due approvals. Consequent upon introduction of the Companies Bill, 2011, the Companies Bill, 2009, pending in the Lok Sabha, will be withdrawn.

(7) Reorganisation of field offices : For better administration and faster service delivery, the Ministry created a new office in the form of Regional Director (SER), Hyderabad in May 2011. The field offices of the Ministry are now organized in six regions. Similarly, it is planned to restructure the cadres in the Ministry for better service delivery to public and better promotional prospects to existing personnel.

(8) Easy Exit Scheme, 2011 : With a view to reduce the number of defunct /inoperative companies, the ministry of Corporate Affairs has launched Easy Exit Scheme, 2011 providing them an easy route for closure. Under the scheme, till now, more than 29,000 defunct /inoperative companies have been struck of.

(9) Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA) : The Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA) has started functioning from its new office and building at Manesar. A large number of new initiatives, capacity building etc. are planned at IICA.

Following improvements are planned in the functioning, service delivery and regulatory work of the Ministry:

(1)  Limited Liability Partnership Act : The e-Governance project for Limited Liability Partnership Act, (LLP Act) is running. However, to improve the working of LLP Act, it is planned to take up the registration of LLPs as a full e-Governance project on the same platform as MCA21.

(2)  Extensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) : Extensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) is being introduced in e-filing of Balance Sheet, Profit & Loss Accounts, etc. to have compatibility with international accounting and for data mining and analysis. The taxonomy of XBRL has been finalised after extensive consultation with all stakeholders – ICAI, Trade Chambers, etc. This taxonomy has been placed on the website of Ministry for information of all.

(3)  National Foundation for Corporate Social Responsibility (NFCSR) : It has been decided to establish National Foundation for Corporate Social Responsibility (NFCSR) at IICA.

(4)  National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) : To cut short the time delays in liquidation of companies. The Ministry is in process of establishing National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) which will replace High Courts and BIFR for liquidation and rehabilitation of companies.

(5) Guidelines for unpaid and unclaimed dividends:  The Ministry is formulating guidelines for unpaid and unclaimed dividends. It is also in the process of implementing a functionality whereby the names of such investors who have not claimed amounts due to them shall be displayed on the website of the Ministry for the benefit of all.

(6)  New  Bills on Multi State Societies and Multi State Partnerships

        The Ministry is considering to bring legislations on Multi State Societies and Multi State Partnerships to regulate their business activities.

India is in the mission to study Black Carbon for Global Warming

There is an emergence of interest in the role of Black carbon in global warming since aerosols may modify the planetary albedo. The issue has engaged the attention of scientists and experts in addressing the scientific questions associated with sources, transport and impact of Black Carbon worldwide. The latest scientific studies indicate positive contributions to global warming. However the magnitude of the impact of aerosol on climate remains uncertain.

Aerosols are suspended particulates in the atmosphere. The composition of aerosols varies depending on the sources and temporal and spatial variations. Sulphate aerosols cool the atmosphere. Black carbon (BC) is the soot released in the atmosphere due to indoor combustion of bio-fuels such as wood, dung and crop residue in cook stoves and in outdoors, it is released from combustion of diesel, coal and open biomass burning (forest fires, cut and slash burning in forests, and crop residue burning on fields). The lifetime of black carbon in the atmosphere is small compared to the Greenhouse gases. Black carbon sources vary by regions. On a global basis, approximately 20 per cent of black carbon is emitted from burning bio-fuels, 40 per cent from fossil fuels and 40 per cent from burning biomass in the open.

The knowledge and understanding on aspects such as vertical distribution and mixing of Black Carbon with other aerosols, effects of cloud cover and monsoon still remains uncertain and incomplete. There is thus a need to have better understanding on the following science questions :

• The contribution of black carbon aerosols to regional warming.
• Role of black carbon on atmospheric stability and the consequent effect on cloud formation and monsoon.
• Role of black carbon in altering the ability of hygroscopic aerosols to act as cloud condensation nuclei.
• Role of BC-Induced low-level temperature inversions and their role in formation of fog especially over northern India.
• Role of black carbon on Himalayan glacier retreat.

With the launch of INCCA in October 2009, the Minister of Environment & Forests of the Government of India had announced a comprehensive study on Black carbon not only to enhance the knowledge and understanding of the role of Black carbon in the context of global warming but also to address the sources and impacts of the black carbon on melting of glaciers.

The Black Carbon Research Initiative builds on the existing work and sets out the science programme to respond to the scientific questions. The science plan has been developed through an intensive consultative process and with the involvement of experts in the subject and builds upon the work of ISRO, MoES and other experts countrywide. The initiative is visualised as an ambitious programme with the involvement of over 101 institutions with 65 observatories nationwide.

The study would lead to long-term monitoring of aerosols; monitoring of impact of BC on snow and; estimating magnitude of BC sources using inventory (bottom-up) and inverse modeling (top-down) approaches and modeling BC atmospheric transport and climate impact. The major expected outcomes are understanding the effect of change in albedo due to black carbon on seasonal snow and glacier melt; estimation of albedo and; reflectance of seasonal snow and glacier, glacier depth and mass balance, using airborne sensors like laser altimeter, ground penetrating radar and pyranometer; modeling effect of enhanced melting on glacier mass balance and retreat and; development of snow/glacier melt runoff models to understand the influence of changes in snow and glacier melt pattern.

IDS Technologies integrating Google +1 in its application to monitor Sentiment to manage Brand's Reputation

Facebook hits its 700 millionth member, Myspace dies and a new social Google is born. Info Data Soft Technologies (IDS Technologies) is quickly integrating Google +1 to monitor sentiment of a brand, product or services sothat the reputation could be monitored effectively and managed efficiently.

For more details, please contact IDS Technologies.

Indian Government has earmarked $135 m for Forest Management

Government of India has earmarked Rs. 600 crores for the Intensification of Forest Management Scheme during the 11^th Five Year Plan with a 10 per cent participation from the State governments. The rest 90 per cent grant-in-aid would be provided by the central government from the scheme.

A Ministry of Environment and Forests sources said that the Intensification of Forest Management Scheme has resulted in bridging the gap in developing forest infrastructure in States/UTs.  Earlier known as Integrated Forest Protection Scheme, it is a centrally sponsored scheme of Ministry of Environment and Forest which gives financial assistance to States/Union Territories to take up various activities essential for protection of existing forests.

Sources said that the financial assistance given to the State Forest Departments is used to strengthen their forest protection machinery by way of infrastructure development , use of modern technology, improved mobility by way of deployment of new field vehicles, improved communication and providing arms ammunition to the frontline forestry force.

It added that the scheme also provides financial assistance for developing infrastructure for forest fire control and management; survey, demarcation and preparation of Working Plans. The Scheme was formulated by merger of the two Schemes (Forest Fire Control Management and Infrastructure Development for North Eastern Sector) in all States and Union Territories during the 10th Five Year Plan. It was last revised during 2009 to broaden its objectives by adding four new components.

All State /UT Government provide State share of funds to match the Central share in proportion as stipulated in the Scheme for the approved Annual Plan of Operations of a financial year. The State Government also required to provide necessary funds for maintenance of the assets created under the Scheme and to provide financial and manpower resources for utilization of the assets so created.  

Sources said that the funding pattern is on cost sharing. The scheme is a grants-in-aid based on 90:10 (Central: State) funding pattern in respect of all the North Eastern States including Sikkim and special category states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and 75:25 (Central: State) funding pattern for all other States/UTs.

The State Government also required to provide necessary funds for maintenance of the assets created under the Scheme and to provide financial and manpower resources for utilization of the assets so created.  

Main Components of the Scheme are forest fire control and management, strengthening of infrastructure, survey and demarcation/working plan preparation, protection and conservation of sacred groves, conservation and restoration of unique vegetation and ecosystems, control and eradication of forest invasive species and preparedness for meeting challenges of Bamboo Flowering and Improving Management of Bamboo Forests.

Many interventions are carried out under this scheme which include creation and maintenance of fire-lines, engagement of fire watchers, construction of water harvesting structures; watch towers; office and residential buildings for frontline staff and improvement of forest road, providing the fire fighting equipments and vehicles, training and capacity building, awareness campaigns, assistance to Joint Forest Management Committees (JFMCs) to ensure involvement of local communities, Wireless and communication network, fire arms to the frontline forest protection staff, modernization of office equipments and survey and demarcation and preparation of working plans.

India's ranking slips on innovation, gains on scientific research

India's ranking in the Global Innovation Index (GII) has slipped from the 56th position in 2010 to the 62nd place this year, while Switzerland topped the chart, according to a study. But at the same time, India has improved its position on Scientific Research and Development from 13th position in 1996 to 9th position in 2010.

Sweden, Singapore, Hong Kong and Finland notched second, third, fourth and fifth place in the GII rankings.

China (29th) is the only emerging economy to have reached the Top 30 on the GII.

The GII for the year 2011, which was released in Geneva, examines how countries leverage their enabling environments to stimulate innovation results.

The study was conducted by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and INSEAD.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Naushad Forbes, Chairman of the CII Innovation Council 2011-12 and Director of Forbes Marshall, said on July 4, 2011 that the whole world is talking about innovation in all forms starting from industry to government to society.

After the recent economic slowdown, the focus has shifted clearly towards the developing regions not only in terms of a booming potential market but also a hot spot for frugal innovations.

"Measuring this shift is important to know how we are doing, GII is a starting point to do that and unquestionably in the right direction," Dr Forbes said.

In the Innovation Efficiency Index, India however improved its ranking to 9th this year.

"The decline in input factors--political stability, regulatory environment, human capital, research and development, infrastructure, market sophistication and business sophistication--coupled with an improvement in scientific and creative output, has led to this stupendously high efficiency index for the country," the study said.

Cote d'lvoire tops this list and China and Pakistan follow at the third and the fourth positions respectively.

Three BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries are among the Top 10 on Innovation Efficiency.

Meanwhile, India’s position globally in the field of scientific research and development, as measured by the number of research papers published, has improved from 13^th position in 1996 to 12^th position in 2001 and 10th position in 2006 and further to 9^th position in 2010 as per the Scopus International database. 

The number of applications submitted to patent  new inventions made by  scientists from India and other developed and developing countries received at Indian Patent Office during the last five years is as follows:-

Applications	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10
Indian	4521	5314	6040	6161	7262
Foreign	19984	23626	29178	30651	27025
Total	24505	28940	35218	36812	34287

Source: Office of the Controller General Patents, Designs and Trademarks.

Note:    Foreigners Resident Abroad include broadly the residents of Common Wealth countries, American, European, African and Asian countries.

The Government of India has taken various measures for the promotion and growth of scientific research in the country.  These measures include, successive increase in plan allocations for Scientific Departments, setting up of new institutions for science education and research, creation of centres of excellence and facilities in emerging and frontline areas in academic and national institutes, induction of new and attractive fellowships such as Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE), strengthening infrastructure for Research and Development (R&D) in universities, encouraging public-private R&D partnerships, national awards for outstanding R&D for firms etc.

Recently, I got a joke on my mail forwarded by one of my good friends. After some editing, I am posting this joke here for my readers:

A Mathematician:  How do you write 4 in between 5?
1st Person: Is this a Joke?
2nd Person: Impossible!
3rd Person: The question's wrong.
4th Person: Not found on the Internet.
 
Indian:  F(IV)E

This is the reason Indians are everywhere in the world in finance, business, medicine, engineering.... anything to do with using both sides of the brain. (With input from UNI)