For the first time, National Children Science Congress will be held in Gujarat. The five day event will start from December 27 at Gujarat Science City.
About 100 child scientists and escort teachers from SAARC countries are participating in the 17th NCSC this year. The Congress is held every year since its first meeting in 1993. The theme this year is 'PLANET EARTH - our home: Explore, Share and Care’.
Apart from the 700 selected child scientists from India, students of schools of Gujarat will also be involved through different scientific activities and interactive programmes. About 5000 Gujarat students will take part in different programmes every day. Different scientific institutions from within and outside Gujarat will be part of scientific exhibition to be organized along with other activities.
Giving details of the event, Dr. Narottam Sahoo of Gujarat Science City said that NCSC is a prestigious national academic event for the meritorious children of the age group of 10 to 17 years named as child scientists, both from formal and informal, along with eminent scientists and faculties of the country. The programme has been proved and provides a real platform for the budding scientists to make their career and profession in science.
One of the most interesting activities of the NCSC is interaction of Eminent Scientists of the country with child scientists. They ask questions, express their doubts to the scientists and the scientists try to answer their question. Over the years eminent scientists like Dr. APJ. Abdul Kalam, Former President of India, Prof Yashpal, Chancellor of JNU, Prof M.S. Swaminathan, Chairman of MSSRF, Dr. Madhab Gadgil, Prof Jayant V. Narliker, Dr. Madhavan Nair, Dr. D. Balasubramanian, Dr. N. K. Sehgal and many other prominent scientists interacted with the child scientists of NCSC.
The programmes will be held both at Science City and the SGVP International School campus. The major activities of the NCSC- 2009 are (i) technical session for Child Scientists, (ii) scientific exhibition by premier scientific institutions and themes, (iii) activity corners, (iv) interaction of eminent scientist of the country, (v) poster presentation, (vi) cultural programme by the Child Scientists, (vii) teacher orientation programmes, (viii) face to face and videoconferencing sessions with leading scientists.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
World's first chopper city coming up in Gujarat
Gujarat will soon be home to a hi-tech Helicopter City that promises to be a one-stop shop for all chopper-related services - maintenance, hire, overhaul, R&D, aerospace training, design and avionics.
The project will come up near Surat in Gujarat and is touted as world's first integrated complex for chopper services. Australia-headquartered Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA), world's leading provider of independent aviation market intelligence, will invest around Rs 1,000 crore to develop the Helicopter City that will be part of the Rs 11,500-crore Gujarat Vittal Innovation City (GVIC), a multi-product SEZ that will come up at Umargaon near Surat.
The project will also draw global investments as talks are on with US-based and Middle East-based companies. The project will include a general airport and is part of the largest single-location aviation project in the country.
Former chief vigilance commissioner and GVIC chairman N Vittal told ET: "At present, domestic companies have to get these (chopper) services from Dubai and Singapore. With the Helicopter City coming up, the company expects the project to be a breakthrough in the aviation sector."
With India Inc expanding operations, chopper services are gaining popularity. As per an estimate, India can produce 125-150 choppers yearly if policies and regulatory requirements are suitably amended and procedural barriers removed.
This can attract an investment of about $350 million. At present, companies charge Rs 75,000 per block hour, depending upon the package of the service, CAPA sources said. According to the director of Oasis Aviation Faruq Sarkari: "Helicopter hiring has increased in the past five years. Also, more and more corporates are now owning choppers like never before. Apart from transport, choppers are used for diverse operations like cleaning chimneys. If cleaning carbon earlier required 15 days, now 15 chimneys can be cleaned in one day by
using choppers."
CAPA CEO, South Asia, Kapil Kaul said in addition to providing maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services, the project will also have an aviation institute with facilities of R&D, aerospace, design and avionics.
"As the SEZ is close to Mumbai, we will also construct a general aviation airport," Mr Kaul said adding an MoU has been inked for setting up the Helicopter City, and a master plan and feasibility study were underway.
Mr Kaul said it was too early to ascertain the quantum of investments, but revealed that talks were on with companies based in the US and Middle East for investments.
GVIC, jointly promoted by a consortia of Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) and EMPI Vittal Centre INNOPOLIS will have knowledge-based manufacturing production, R&D and incubation activities. GVIC CEO inspired by Global high tech innovation Pankaj Sarin said: Of the 2,500-acre SEZ area at Umargam in Valsad district, about 800 acres would be allotted to the Korean companies.
Planning for the project is likely to take about five months, and the project is likely to create one lakh new jobs. Once the land is allotted, the work on SEZ will be completed in 18 months. "We are also in talks also with Singapore and Taiwanese government," Mr Sarin said.
The project will draw inspiration from clusters like Silicon Valley of US, Hsinchu in Taiwan, Tsukuba in Japan, Daedeok Innopolis in Korea and Sofia Antipolis in France
reference: Economic times
The project will come up near Surat in Gujarat and is touted as world's first integrated complex for chopper services. Australia-headquartered Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA), world's leading provider of independent aviation market intelligence, will invest around Rs 1,000 crore to develop the Helicopter City that will be part of the Rs 11,500-crore Gujarat Vittal Innovation City (GVIC), a multi-product SEZ that will come up at Umargaon near Surat.
The project will also draw global investments as talks are on with US-based and Middle East-based companies. The project will include a general airport and is part of the largest single-location aviation project in the country.
Former chief vigilance commissioner and GVIC chairman N Vittal told ET: "At present, domestic companies have to get these (chopper) services from Dubai and Singapore. With the Helicopter City coming up, the company expects the project to be a breakthrough in the aviation sector."
With India Inc expanding operations, chopper services are gaining popularity. As per an estimate, India can produce 125-150 choppers yearly if policies and regulatory requirements are suitably amended and procedural barriers removed.
This can attract an investment of about $350 million. At present, companies charge Rs 75,000 per block hour, depending upon the package of the service, CAPA sources said. According to the director of Oasis Aviation Faruq Sarkari: "Helicopter hiring has increased in the past five years. Also, more and more corporates are now owning choppers like never before. Apart from transport, choppers are used for diverse operations like cleaning chimneys. If cleaning carbon earlier required 15 days, now 15 chimneys can be cleaned in one day by
using choppers."
CAPA CEO, South Asia, Kapil Kaul said in addition to providing maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services, the project will also have an aviation institute with facilities of R&D, aerospace, design and avionics.
"As the SEZ is close to Mumbai, we will also construct a general aviation airport," Mr Kaul said adding an MoU has been inked for setting up the Helicopter City, and a master plan and feasibility study were underway.
Mr Kaul said it was too early to ascertain the quantum of investments, but revealed that talks were on with companies based in the US and Middle East for investments.
GVIC, jointly promoted by a consortia of Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) and EMPI Vittal Centre INNOPOLIS will have knowledge-based manufacturing production, R&D and incubation activities. GVIC CEO inspired by Global high tech innovation Pankaj Sarin said: Of the 2,500-acre SEZ area at Umargam in Valsad district, about 800 acres would be allotted to the Korean companies.
Planning for the project is likely to take about five months, and the project is likely to create one lakh new jobs. Once the land is allotted, the work on SEZ will be completed in 18 months. "We are also in talks also with Singapore and Taiwanese government," Mr Sarin said.
The project will draw inspiration from clusters like Silicon Valley of US, Hsinchu in Taiwan, Tsukuba in Japan, Daedeok Innopolis in Korea and Sofia Antipolis in France
reference: Economic times
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
JSW Energy to set up 2,400-mw thermal power plant in Gujarat
JSW Energy Ltd, the energy division of the JSW Group, plans to set up a 2,400 mw coal-based power plant in Dahej near Bharuch in Gujarat.
The group has applied for the allotment of land to the state government and to the ministry of coal for a long-term coal linkage for the project. The company will import coal from Indonesia and Mozambique. The entire plant will be developed in two phases with two projects of 800 mw each in the first phase and another 800 mw project to be developed in the second phase. The company would require about 1,500 acres of land for the project.
The group had signed MoU with the state government for setting up a power project in the state. Krishna Deshika, jt group CFO, JSW Group, says, ‘‘While we had selected Simar port in the Junagadh district earlier, due to some technical issues, the government asked us to select a new location. We identified Dahej and will use the Dahej port for coal imports,’’ said Deshika
Japanese bank to fund Gujarats mangrove plantation
Japan Bank for International Co-operation sanctions Rs 832-cr loan which will be used for mangrove and forest development over 5 yrs
The state Forest Department has begun planting mangroves in the coastal areas of Kutch with the assistance of Japan Bank for International Co-operation this week. |
Gujarat boy Sharad Chandrakant Mirani won a bronze medal at the 3rd International Earth Science Olympiad (IESO) in Taipei, Taiwan
Sharad, a Class X student of Prakash Higher Secondary School, had been selected for the global science competition after he excelled at the national standard examination in junior science and finished among the top 300 students at the second stage of the competition. He then appeared at the Indian National Science Olympiads in January 2009 and was selected as one of the top 32 students of the country. After rigorous training and evaluation, Sharad finally made it to the four-member Indian team to participate in the IESO 2009.
"This turned out to be a dream journey. I had prepared hard to improve my theoretical knowledge and practical experience in the earth science," he said. "It became possible only with the blessings of Lord Swaminarayan and the support and encouragement by the teachers at the Prakash school and Prof Paras Solanki of MG Science College," said Mirani.
Dr Narottam Sahoo, senior scientist at Gujarat Science City, guided Sharad with a comprehensive approach of IESO. "I tried to clear as many conceptual doubts as I could for him, giving him hands-on experience on various earth science topics," said Sahoo.
Sharad is also an achiever in sports and has so far won 30 medals at the state level and two at national level in roller skating. "Sharad is the first Gujarati to achieve such a feat at the International Science Olympiad. He is now the role model for studentspreparing for the next IESO, 2010 to be held in Indonesia," said Sahoo.
First-of-its-kind in India,Gujarat will launch the Chief Minister's Fellowship Programme on the occasion of Vijay Dashami on September 28
In a first-of-its-kind in India, Narendra Modi-led BJP government in Gujarat will launch the Chief Minister's Fellowship Programme on the occasion of Vijay Dashami on September 28.
The Fellowship by invitation will provide a platform for young achievers to experience government functioning and engage themselves in working for a better future.
Online selection for this programme will be launched on Vijay Dashami, and the fellows will have to spend a minimum one year working with the state government in a specific department or district of Gujarat, official sources said.
Mr Modi had announced the scheme in his Independence Day address this year.
All youth with calibre, enthusiasm and excellence are invited to be a part of the fellowship programme and final selection will be done by the Chief Minister and senior officers, they said.
Commenting on the programme, Mr Modi said, ''This is a chance for the country's best young achievers to take on the highest challenges. You can take a step to change the future. I welcome you to contribute to transformation in social development.''
Online selection for this programme will be launched on Vijay Dashami, and the fellows will have to spend a minimum one year working with the state government in a specific department or district of Gujarat, official sources said.
Mr Modi had announced the scheme in his Independence Day address this year.
All youth with calibre, enthusiasm and excellence are invited to be a part of the fellowship programme and final selection will be done by the Chief Minister and senior officers, they said.
Commenting on the programme, Mr Modi said, ''This is a chance for the country's best young achievers to take on the highest challenges. You can take a step to change the future. I welcome you to contribute to transformation in social development.''
Gujarat’s MLA – neighbour’s envy?
If you are a Member of the Legislative Assembly or an MLA of Gujarat, you’re certainly an object of envy for your colleagues in many other states. The Gujarat MLA is relatively well paid with a monthly salary of Rs 21,000 (excluding perks). This is considerably higher than their counterpart in most other states. In addition, they get a daily allowance (for attending the assembly or committee meetings in the State) of Rs 200.
According to the data compiled by PRS Legislative Research for 17 states (Gujarat, Nagaland, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Goa, Rajasthan, Orissa, Sikkim, Punjab, West Bengal, Delhi, Meghalaya, Tamil Nadu, Chattisgarh, Kerala, Haryana), an MLA in Gujarat is the best paid (among these 17 states) but receives one of the least daily allowances. Meanwhile, the Haryana MLA does not receive any monthly salary but is perhaps compensated with the highest daily allowance of Rs 1000.
MLAs in Nagaland, are the next best salaried at Rs10,000 and daily allowance at Rs500. States like Madhya Pradesh, Sikkim and West Bengal though do not seem to have the concept of daily allowances.
While Madhya Pradesh pays its MLAs Rs9,000 a month, Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh pay Rs 8,000 p.m.; Goa, Rajasthan and Orissa pay Rs 5000; Sikkim and Punjab Rs 4000; West Bengal, Delhi and Meghalaya Rs 3000; Tamil Nadu Rs 2000 and Chhattisgarh Rs 1500.
In Kerala, MLAs are one of the least paid at a month salary of just Rs300 and a daily allowance of Rs400.
However, while the monthly salaries might seem a bit meager, this is not the only remuneration given to an MLA. In addition to the monthly salary and daily allowance, MLAs also get allowances to cover travel, office and communication expenses etc. and free or subsidized housing. Hence, the total monthly salary figure for each MLA, including all perks, goes much higher. For instance in Gujarat, with effect from April 2009, a new pay scale for MLAs was introduced bringing salaries at par with those of Class I officers, which made an MLA’s salary (including all perks) a little more than Rs 40,000 a month. Or for instance, for an MLA in Meghalaya, the figure including perks becomes Rs 20,000 per month.
There is no uniformity of salaries for MLAs across the country because each state has a separate Payment of Salaries Act, which sets rules regarding salaries, perks, pensions etc of MLAs. Hence, the salary amount, structure, nature of perks etc differ across states, given that they are determined according to the individual discretion of each state legislature.
Meanwhile, a variety of factors are taken into account while MLA salaries are altered or raised. State assemblies tend to keep in mind the possibility of public criticism when salaries are being increased. Thus, while in the private sector, remuneration might be revised every year, for MLA’s, it usually happens once in 4-5 years.
A separate law governs the salary of the speaker of each state assembly. While the monthly salary is usually not very different from that of other MLAs, the speaker is entitled to more perks.
Coming back to Gujarat, it is said that an MLA there – Mahendrabhai Liladharbhai Mashru from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – does not accept any remuneration, since he “does not believe in taking money for public work.”
Gujarat reverses recession with double digit growth in VAT and Energy consumption ratio
Gujarat has reversed the worldwide economic recession trend achieveing double digits growth in its Energy Consumption Ratio (ECR) and Value Added Tax (VAT), Gujarat Industry Minister Saurabh Patel said here today.
Talking to mediapersons, Mr Patel announced that the 'INDIACHEM Gujarat-2009' will be held in the city from December 12-14.
''The double digit growths in ECR & VAT, which are being considered true yardstick to measure economical growth of any state, clearly indicate that the state has not just halted the adverse effect of world wide economic recession but has reversed it with showing of such remarkable performances by the industries.'' Mr Patel said ''The industies in Gujarat have shown ECR growth of 10-12 per cent this year, compared to previous year.
Similarly, the income of VAT has gone up by over 12 per cent.'' ''The Indiachem, a bi-annual event of Indian chemical industries, which is the first time being organised here rather than its traditional venues of Mumbai and Delhi, since its inception in year 2000, will give further boost to the chemical industries of Gujarat which is producing 40 per cent of India's total checmical output,'' Mr Patel said.
He said that Gujarat has over 7,000 chemical processing units ranging from dye-chem to bio-chem which are contributing major chunk to the Gujarat success story of indudsrial growth set by Chief Minister Narendra Modi through series of 'Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors Summit' series, which have been attracting investments from all over the world amounting to several billion US dollars.
''The double digit growths in ECR & VAT, which are being considered true yardstick to measure economical growth of any state, clearly indicate that the state has not just halted the adverse effect of world wide economic recession but has reversed it with showing of such remarkable performances by the industries.'' Mr Patel said ''The industies in Gujarat have shown ECR growth of 10-12 per cent this year, compared to previous year.
Similarly, the income of VAT has gone up by over 12 per cent.'' ''The Indiachem, a bi-annual event of Indian chemical industries, which is the first time being organised here rather than its traditional venues of Mumbai and Delhi, since its inception in year 2000, will give further boost to the chemical industries of Gujarat which is producing 40 per cent of India's total checmical output,'' Mr Patel said.
He said that Gujarat has over 7,000 chemical processing units ranging from dye-chem to bio-chem which are contributing major chunk to the Gujarat success story of indudsrial growth set by Chief Minister Narendra Modi through series of 'Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors Summit' series, which have been attracting investments from all over the world amounting to several billion US dollars.
Gujarat's 36 pharma brands among India's top 300 cures
Of the 300 top medicine brands with the highest sales in India, 36 are owned and marketed by Gujarat-based companies.
This remarkable fact is revealed by a list of the country's top-selling medicine brands, included in an ORG-IMS report. The list has been compiled on the basis of the moving annual total (MAT) sales for the 12-month period ending April 30, 2009.
According to the report, the 36 brands marketed by the state-based pharmaceutical companies had posted collective sales of Rs1,260 crore during the 12-month period. The figure represents a 15% growth over the figures for recorded in the corresponding period last year.
Most of the 36 brands are marketed by some leading pharmaceutical companies of the state such as Zydus Cadila, Torrent Pharma, Sun Pharma and Alembic. They are used in the treatment of a variety of ailments, including gastrointestinal diseases, heart disease and some common infections.
With sales of Rs78 crore, 'Azithral' of Alembic leads the list of top-selling brands from Gujarat. It is used to treat bacterial infections. 'Althrocin' and 'Roxid' are the two other brands of Alembic which have sales of Rs72 crore and Rs53 crore, respectively. Cadila Pharma's 'Aciloc' and Zydus Cadila's 'Aten' also figure in the list with sales of Rs71 crore each.
"We are quite strong in medicines meant for treatment of infections," said Pranav Amin, executive director, Alembic Ltd. "And we are strengthening our position in medicines meant for treatment of lifestyle diseases. After the acquisition of Dabur's non-oncology wing, we have been focusing mainly on cardiac and diabetic care products, and on expanding our marketing network."
After Jones Lang LaSalle and Cushman & Wakefield, another US based real estate organisation RE/MAX sets up shop in Gujarat
After Jones Lang LaSalle and Cushman & Wakefield, another US based real estate organisation RE/MAX sets up shop in Gujarat.
RE/MAX India, a division of US-based RE/MAX International Property Group, is all set to commence its operations in Gujarat next month.
The Delhi-headquartered real estate brokerage franchising company is currently identifying companies interested in buying broker-office franchises to operate throughout Gujarat.
According to Manan Choksi, regional franchisee owner in Gujarat, "The market for real estate broking services is currently fragmented and unorganised in the state. As there is a lot of migration in to the state, coupled with investments, we expect a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20 per cent in the next 5 years. Besides, we expect to conquer 25 per cent of the brokerage transactions in Gujarat. We wish to employ the top 15 per cent of brokers in the state who are most productive. This will ensure the desired market share as we believe in 'outstanding agents, outstanding results. Eventually, over a period of 10 years, we expect a 35 per cent market presence in Gujarat."
RE/MAX, among other things, brings the network support needed for real estate transactions by selling broker offices to provide a variety of real estate services.
The broker-offices of RE/MAX provides guidance to both the buyer and the seller for a real estate transaction. The company plans to open 20 broker offices at the end of first year. "By the end of five years, we expect around 80 offices across the state. A country like Czech which has a population of 10 million has 155 RE/MAX broker-offices. Hence, Gujarat has a potential of around 200 offices in 10 years time," Choksi added.
RE/MAX has opened its office at Mithakhali in Navrangpura area in Ahmedabad.
Commenting on the growth of the company, Choksi further said, "RE/MAX Gujarat is investing Rs 3 crores in the next two years in developing the region. Moreover, the company will be spending a lot of money in branding and advertising. Internationally RE/MAX spends $ 1 billion (Rs 4800 crore approx) on advertising."
RE/MAX forayed into India a year ago and has presence in Bangalore, Chandigardh-Panchkula, Pune, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
RE/MAX is an international network of independently owned and operated offices offering a variety of real estate services. Based in Denver, Colorado, RE/MAX International has presence in over 79 countries and has around 6850 offices, with 1,00,000 broker agents across the world.
While Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj set up its shop in Ahmedabad in July this year, Cushman and Wakefield is still to set up a office here. Both the firms have, however been operational in the state from past few years. Besides, another global real estate consultancy firm UK based Knightfrank has also been active in the state.
Gujarat ranks 6th in creating jobs in state-owned firms
Gujarat, which made the highest investment among states in public enterprises, is ranked sixth in terms of generating employment in these units, a survey says. Andhra Pradesh, which topped the list of 10 states for generating jobs in the State Level Public Enterprises (SLPEs), was the fourth-largest investor.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Gujarat based agriculture university has successfully converted banana tree waste into nutritious edibles
In what will be music to the ears of banana cultivators, a Gujarat based agriculture university has successfully converted those parts of the fruit's plant which are usually thrown away as waste into highly useful products, including an edible candy with nutritional values.
Under a project 'A value chain on utilisation of banana pseudostem for fibre and other value added products', Navsari Agriculture University (NAU) professors have developed edible candy high in fibre and nutrition made out of central core of plant pseudostem.
The other products include fibre for textile and paper industry and organic liquid fertiliser which have been developed under the project which aims for efficient use of each and every component of banana plant.
"We have been working on the project for a year and developed a number of products using the banana plant, including edible candy," NAU professor B N Kolambe told PTI.
"This candy is made from the central core of the banana plant pseudostem, which is a nutrition-rich part. The candy has been developed on experimental basis and we are in the process of standardising the product," he said.
If parts of banana plant like leaves and pseudostem is used to develop value added products farmers would be the ultimate beneficiaries as banana is grown in large quantity in Gujarat, Kolambe further added.
In a single day 700 cars sold in Gujarat
Automobile dealers in Ahmedabad reported accelerated growth in the sale of vehicles delivered on Dashera. For the four-wheeler segment, and particularly premium models, the last day for depreciation proved to be a major boost for their sales.
In addition, the implementation of the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission for government employees boosted demand in the small car segment. More than 700 cars were delivered in the city on Vijayadashami.
"We delivered around 150 cars to buyers across Gujarat, including 90 units from our Ahmedabad showroom itself," said Paras Somani, CEO of Landmark Honda. According to him, people preferred this auspicious day to buy cars as the last date to claim 40 per cent depreciation was nearing.
The implementation of the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission resulted in a salary hike for government employees. Because of this, there was a shift of 10 to 15 per cent from the two-wheeler to the small car market, a source in the industry said.
The response for the automobile industry was overwhelming considering that most companies with a presence in the two-wheeler segment did not introduce any schemes. A majority of dealers in two-wheelers believe that the stimulus package introduced by the central government has injected new life into the industry.
Moreover, the sales on Dashera indicate the people in Gujarat have overcome the psychological fear wrought by the global slowdown. The bullish trend in the stock markets can be sited as another factor that led to an increase in demand. Though the last year has not been good for the automobile industry, a majority of two-wheelers reported growth compared to last year, of between 20 and 50 per cent.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Gujarat's first Knowledge IT zone to come up at Vadodara
Gujarat's first ever Knowledge and Information Technology zone will be set on the outskirts of Vadodara, to encourage IT industries to invest in the state, a top official said.
The government is mulling over a proposal on amending the rules for setting up of KnowledgeIT zone on about 2,000 hectares of land, acquired from Dhumad, Luna and other villages on the city''s outskirts, Maheshwar Sahu, Principal Secretary, Industries and Mines, told PTI. Since IT and related industries are not coming up to set up their units here, the government is seriously thinking on converting the earlier proposed IT zone into IT cum Knowledge zone, Sahu, who was here to attend a function, said.
Vadodara was selected for the project because of its contribution in the field of education, he said. Sahu also turned down pleas of several villagers -- whose land has been acquired for the project -- to allow them to use their reserved 2,000 hectares of land for commercial and residential purpose.
He allayed fears of various plastic manufacturing units, saying no units would be closed down. He, however, appealed them for upgrading their technology for facing competition in their field.
Source: PTI
The Annual Plan of Gujarat was today finalised at Rs 23,500 crore
The Annual Plan of Gujarat was today finalised at Rs 23,500 crore, a 12 per cent hike from last year's Plan size, with Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia lauding the Narendra Modi government for remarkable all-round progress with thrust on inclusiveness.
The Plan size was agreed at a meeting in Yojana Bhawan here between Dr Ahluwalia and Mr Modi, supported by officials from the two sides.
After finalising the Plan size, Dr Ahluwalia was all praise for the Gujarat government for its sound performance in almost all sectors. Besides, he said the rapid industrialising state of Gujarat had not lost sight of performing well on human development indicators.
After finalising the Plan size, Dr Ahluwalia was all praise for the Gujarat government for its sound performance in almost all sectors. Besides, he said the rapid industrialising state of Gujarat had not lost sight of performing well on human development indicators.
Gujarat is likely to achieve an agricultural growth rate of 9.9 per cent in the year 2009-10
Narendra Modi said that Gujarat is likely to achieve an agriculture growth rate of 9.9 per cent in the current fiscal, in a year where the national economy is poised to see a negative growth rate in the region of two to three per cent as a consequence of severe drought.
Gujarat with the backing of Bill Clinton will give our contracts worth $10 billion
Contracts to build the world’s largest solar power facility in India’s Gujarat state, valued at $10 billion and backed by former U.S. President Bill Clinton, will be awarded by January, a state government official said.
The 3,000 megawatt project will get help with logistics and finding financing from the William J Clinton Foundation , a charitable group started by the former president, said S. Jagdeesan, principal secretary, energy and petrochemicals in the government of Gujarat. The foundation and the Gujarat government signed a preliminary agreement on Sept. 8.
“The Clinton Foundation will help us in bringing manufacturers and power generators and also in providing access to international funding at cost-effective interest rates,” Jagdeesan said in an interview. “They are facilitators. We will invest in the infrastructure.” The project may be developed on 10,000 hectares of land spread across three locations within an area of 150 square kilometers (58 square miles) in Gujarat.
India has joined China in trying to reduce emissions and dependence on coal by betting on alternative energy sources such as solar and wind. The Indian government is working on a National Solar Mission that envisages putting up 20,000 megawatts of solar power capacity by 2020.
India receives the equivalent of 5,000 trillion kilowatt hours of solar energy a year, the government said response to a parliament question in February. At present, the country has just 2.1 megawatts of installed solar power capacity.
China
First Solar Inc, a U.S.-based renewable energy company, announced this month it will build a 2,000-megawatt solar plant in China. One megawatt is sufficient to power a 10-storey office building.
The Clinton Climate Initiative, a part of the foundation, will help identify manufacturers of solar thermal equipment, which uses the sun’s rays to heat a medium such as water to turn turbines. The manufacturers will be selected in three to four months, Jagdeesan said.
The Gujarat government will set up the so-called solar parks in special economic zones and encourage equipment suppliers to set up manufacturing facilities close to the generation site to reduce costs, he said.
“Three-thousand megawatts is huge,” said Keith Hays, director of research atEmerging Energy Research in Barcelona, Spain. “Most solar thermal projects we’ve seen are several 100 megawatts. With solar thermal, you get more megawatts per square hectare of land” compared with other technologies to harness the sun’s energy such as photovoltaic, he said.
Cheap Financing
The project will take a minimum of five years to develop and the Gujarat government hopes to get cheap financing from multilateral agencies such as the Asian Development Bank, Jagdeesan said.
The state government may include hybrid plants in the project that use both solar energy and natural gas to generate power, Jagdeesan said.
“When there is sunshine we’ll generate using solar and when the sun is not shining we’ll generate using natural gas,” he said. “Gas is available to us in Gujarat. We will provide gas connectivity.”
The Gujarat government, headed by Chief Minister Narendra Modi, has taken the lead among Indian states in promoting solar power. It has allotted 716 megawatts of solar generation capacity to 34 Indian and international developers, apart from the Clinton Foundation-backed plan. The developers include Arlington, Virginia-based AES Solar Energy Ltd., a joint venture between AES CORP. and Riverstone Holdings LLC, and Spain’s ABENGOA
“Gujarat is the only state to take this initiative, while many people have just talked about renewable energy,”Ira Magaziner, chairman of the Clinton Climate Initiative, was cited as saying in the government press release announcing the agreement.
The Clinton Foundation focuses on issues such as AIDS, poverty and climate change.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
GMDCL To invest 600 crore in Wind Power Generation In Gujarat
Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation Limited (GMDCL) intends to enter the wind power generation sector in a phased manner with 100 MW wind project, the Business Standard reported. GMDCL has already received approval from the Gujarat government for the foray. In the first phase, GMDCL intends to put up wind mills having aggregate capacity of 19.5 MW. INR1.2 billion will be invested for the same through internal accruals. GMDCL has identified Rajkot district's Maliya area for the wind farm.
The site identified for the project borders arid region of Kutch in Gujarat.
"This is the first wind power project of the company and it will be implemented in a phased manner. The company has envisaged a total of Rs. 600 crore investment for the project," sources close to the development revealed.
"The first phase of the project will be taken up in current year, while it will take not less than two years to complete the remaining phases", sources added.
GMDCL has surplus fund to enter into wind power generation. Besides this, the company will be able to avail special incentives offered under Gujarat's wind power policy. The new wind power policy of the state has fixed INR3.5 per unit tariff for purchasing wind power. Earlier, the rate was INR3.37 per unit.
"The company will also get the benefit of carbon credit while supply power to state grid, which will further help Gujarat to meet its power requirement", sources explained.
Gujarat to organise mega Navratri event in the presence of foreign diplomats from 84 countries.
Gujarat to organise mega Navratri event in the presence of foreign diplomats from 84 countries.
"Tha Navratri garba festival has been organised at the GMDC ground in the city where over one lakh people will come daily," Tourism secretary D K Rao, who is in charge of the event, said.
According to him, apart from garba and other cultural programmes, many theme pavilions on a wide range of issues like global warming, green energy among others has been set up at the venue.
Rao added that local artists as also those from Delhi, Haryana, Manipur, Goa, Assam, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and some others states will participate in the cultural events to be held simultaneously with the traditional street garbas.
Giving details of the entire programme, he said that the state government agencies have arranged adequate security measures at the venue while five medical teams would also be stationed at the venue to screen people of swine flu pandemic.
Tanzania wants to emulate Gujarat
Tanzanian Prime Minister Mizengo Kayanza Peter Pinda, who is on a day-long visit to Gujarat, on Wednesday said that he wants to emulate the state’s agriculture development and milk cooperative model in his country.
“We are very impressed by various aspects of development by Gujarat especially in cooperative and agriculture sector,” Mr. Pinda told reporters here after meeting Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
“Gujarat has handled irrigation very well and we would like to replicate this model in our country whose economy is also agriculture-based,” he said.
Mr. Pinda is accompanied by a high-level delegation including Tanzania’s Agriculture Security and Cooperative Minister Stefan M Wasira and Minister for Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Environment Burhani Saadat Haji.
Meanwhile, CMO officials said the Tanzanian delegation has expressed willingness to extend cooperation with the state in the field of agriculture and cooperative sector.
The meeting also discussed cooperation between Tanzania’s diamond mines and Gujarat-based diamond polishing industry, they said.
Mr. Pinda later visited Amul Dairy, the epicentre of ‘White Revolution’ in the country, in Anand district.
Talking to media persons in Anand, Mr. Pinda said he is also planning to implement the Amul model in Tanzania.
“We are very impressed by various aspects of development by Gujarat especially in cooperative and agriculture sector,” Mr. Pinda told reporters here after meeting Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
“Gujarat has handled irrigation very well and we would like to replicate this model in our country whose economy is also agriculture-based,” he said.
Mr. Pinda is accompanied by a high-level delegation including Tanzania’s Agriculture Security and Cooperative Minister Stefan M Wasira and Minister for Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Environment Burhani Saadat Haji.
Meanwhile, CMO officials said the Tanzanian delegation has expressed willingness to extend cooperation with the state in the field of agriculture and cooperative sector.
The meeting also discussed cooperation between Tanzania’s diamond mines and Gujarat-based diamond polishing industry, they said.
Mr. Pinda later visited Amul Dairy, the epicentre of ‘White Revolution’ in the country, in Anand district.
Talking to media persons in Anand, Mr. Pinda said he is also planning to implement the Amul model in Tanzania.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Gujarati Fonts
This is a list of websites and links through which one can download Gujarati Fonts for use in Email or on Desktop.
1. http://saumil.net/howto/gujfont/gujfont.html
2. http://www.suratmunicipal.org/content/downloads/gujfonts/gujfonts.zip
3. http://utopianvision.co.uk/gujarati/fonts/download.php?d=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gujaratsamachar.com%2FGopika.zip
4. http://www.fototext.com/anonftp/professional-guj.ttf
5. http://utkarsh.org/downloads.htm
6. http://savannah.nongnu.org/download/freefont/
7. http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/t/ttf-indic-fonts/
8. http://www.janabhaaratii.org.in/janabhaaratii/page_gen.php?lang=en&body=/download/download_font.html
9. http://utopianvision.co.uk/gujarati/fonts/download.php?d=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sandesh.com%2Fsandn___.ttf
10. http://utopianvision.co.uk/gujarati/fonts/download.php?d=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.shreeswaminarayan.org.uk%2Fgujarati_school%2Fgujarati_font%2Fgujarati_font.htm
11. http://utopianvision.co.uk/gujarati/fonts/download.php?d=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sambhaav.com%2FKrsnai__.ttf
12. http://utopianvision.co.uk/gujarati/fonts/download.php?d=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.vishwakosh.org%2Ffont.htm
1. http://saumil.net/howto/gujfont/gujfont.html
2. http://www.suratmunicipal.org/content/downloads/gujfonts/gujfonts.zip
3. http://utopianvision.co.uk/gujarati/fonts/download.php?d=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gujaratsamachar.com%2FGopika.zip
4. http://www.fototext.com/anonftp/professional-guj.ttf
5. http://utkarsh.org/downloads.htm
6. http://savannah.nongnu.org/download/freefont/
7. http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/t/ttf-indic-fonts/
8. http://www.janabhaaratii.org.in/janabhaaratii/page_gen.php?lang=en&body=/download/download_font.html
9. http://utopianvision.co.uk/gujarati/fonts/download.php?d=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sandesh.com%2Fsandn___.ttf
10. http://utopianvision.co.uk/gujarati/fonts/download.php?d=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.shreeswaminarayan.org.uk%2Fgujarati_school%2Fgujarati_font%2Fgujarati_font.htm
11. http://utopianvision.co.uk/gujarati/fonts/download.php?d=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sambhaav.com%2FKrsnai__.ttf
12. http://utopianvision.co.uk/gujarati/fonts/download.php?d=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.vishwakosh.org%2Ffont.htm
Monday, September 7, 2009
Gujarat Eco-Textile Park (GETP) - the first green field project
Union minister for textile Dayanidhi Maran will on Wednesday inaugurate Gujarat Eco-Textile Park
Addressing a press conference on Monday, GETP chairman Girish Luthra said that the park has all features required for sustainable growth of the textile industry. The park has international class amenities and infrastructure set up at the cost of Rs135 crore and the total investment is likely to touch Rs 400 crore.
Around eight textile processing units have already started functioning at GETP and other units including high-tech weaving units, embroidery units and composite units are scheduled to start their operation soon. Luthra said, "Around 33 textile entrepreneurs have agreed to set up facilities in the park. Thus, the park will generate 25,000 direct and indirect jobs in the textile industry."
Around eight textile processing units have already started functioning at GETP and other units including high-tech weaving units, embroidery units and composite units are scheduled to start their operation soon. Luthra said, "Around 33 textile entrepreneurs have agreed to set up facilities in the park. Thus, the park will generate 25,000 direct and indirect jobs in the textile industry."
Gujarat will now pioneer in producing world-class teachers
Chief Minister Narendra Modi has stressed on making Gujarat an epicentre of quality teachers who take up the profession by choice and not due to the lack of alternatives.
Addressing the students of Calorx Teachers University (CTU) on the occasion of Teachers’ Day, Modi announced
the setting up of Indian Institute of Teachers Education (IITE) in Vadodara. It will be the second institute for teaching in the state after CTU.
“Like the setting up of the Indian Institute of Management (at Ahmedabad), Gujarat will now pioneer in producing world-class teachers who would be given handsome salary packages in future,” the CM said.
Former Chief Justice of India P N Bhagwati, who was in Ahmedabad to deliver the Dr K R Shroff Memorial Lecture at the university on the occasion, emphasised on the need for quality teachers at all the levels
Justice Bhagwati spoke on how teachers can shape the future of any country. Stressing that the acute shortage of teachers and western influence on teaching methods is depressing, he said, “Teachers have to make students proud of Indian values and its culture against the onslaught of westernisation.”
Praising Modi for the development in the state, he said: “When I left Gujarat, it was very different than what it is today. Narendrabhai has changed the face of the state. I am delighted to see so much progress under the able leadership of Narendrabhai.”
source: times of India
Microsoft kick-starts state-wide education programme in Gujarat
Microsoft Student Partners (MSP) has launched a statewide educative programme. The programme's first phase kick-started with a workshop at Navrachana University (NU) here on Sunday.
These workshops cover current trends in high-end computing technologies like cloud computing, robotics, game design, web development, 3D imaging, server infrastructure and clustering.
"This is our first programme of the state-wide plan wherein we will cover 10 universities in Gujarat, including MS University. We are also looking to promote collaboration between universities and Microsoft through two major programmes - MSDN Academic Alliance and Live@Edu," said Prakhar Agarwal, MSP programme head in Gujarat.
"Through the workshop, our students get access to software that are not released in the market. They also get to see demonstration of software which gives them hands-on experience on using them for academic purpose," said head of Bachelor in Computer Application programme at NU, Prof Rana Mukhopadhyay.
"This year, our focus is Gujarat so we want to concentrate on meeting and interacting with students from the state. MSDN Academic Alliance gives students access to latest software at low cost which ensures they don't use pirated versions. The other aim of the programme is to provide social infrastructure," added Agarwal.
These workshops cover current trends in high-end computing technologies like cloud computing, robotics, game design, web development, 3D imaging, server infrastructure and clustering.
"This is our first programme of the state-wide plan wherein we will cover 10 universities in Gujarat, including MS University. We are also looking to promote collaboration between universities and Microsoft through two major programmes - MSDN Academic Alliance and Live@Edu," said Prakhar Agarwal, MSP programme head in Gujarat.
"Through the workshop, our students get access to software that are not released in the market. They also get to see demonstration of software which gives them hands-on experience on using them for academic purpose," said head of Bachelor in Computer Application programme at NU, Prof Rana Mukhopadhyay.
"This year, our focus is Gujarat so we want to concentrate on meeting and interacting with students from the state. MSDN Academic Alliance gives students access to latest software at low cost which ensures they don't use pirated versions. The other aim of the programme is to provide social infrastructure," added Agarwal.
source: times of india
First of its kind project in India
Gujarat based Sewa bank, a powerful tool for the economic empowerment of self employed women, has now created history by initiating 50,000 poor women to go for micro pension scheme. The project first of its kind in India offers old age security through pension to self employed women working as labourers and vendor to eke out a living.
In country where billions are living below poverty line and only 11 percent of the organized sector have some kind of pension scheme, the number 50,000 may sound a pea nut. But the fact that in the last three years only 1.25 lakh have taken up micro pension shows the strength of these numbers which comes to 40 per cent of the total number in the country.
UTI is a partner in the project. It CMD U K Sinha, admits that the overall achievement was very embarrassing. Lack of awareness among people is the biggest reason for such a poor show of an excellent scheme, he said. Even among all states, the performance of Gujarat was the best because of the dedicated involvement of the bank and its MD Jayshree Vyas, he said.
Explaining the concept she said, “the program allows all women under 55 to save as little as Rs. 50 a month in a pension account. At age 58, participants in the program receive their savings with the accumulated interest to finance their retirement. Our program makes saving for retirement extremely simple.
Any interested applicant need only to open a savings account with SEWA Bank, and deposit enough money to finance their monthly pension deposit. SEWA Bank has set up a software program that automatically transfers money from the client’s savings account to their pension account every month.”
The money contributed by the pension account holders is invested in equity and debt instruments by professional team of the UTI which is a partner in the project. Ideally, it is 40 percent equity and 60 percent debt instruments. However, because of volatile market, the equity portion has remained 23 percent, according to Sinha of the UTI. The average of the three year is 11 percent plus interest.
Gujarat based GACL is poised to be the largest producer of Hydrogen Peroxide in the country
Gujarat Alkalies & Chemicals Limited (GACL) has taken up expansion of its hydrogen peroxide project at its Dahej Complex to increase the capacity by by 14000 TPA for an investment of Rs 98 crore.
After commissioning of expansion project, GACL is poised to be the largest producer of Hydrogen Peroxide in the country, according to company sources.
The company had commissioned its first hydrogen peroxide plant in 1996 at Baroda and second plant at Dahej in 2007. The total existing capacity of both plants is 25080 MTA which shall go up to 39080 MTA
Cost of solar in India will be lower than coal plants in five years
Ira Magaziner, chairman of Clinton Climate Initiative - a programme of the Willam J Clinton Foundation is hopeful that the cost of solar power generation in India will be lower than coal based plants in the next five years
CCI, which is in the process of setting up four Solar Parks across the world with an overall maximum capacity of 20,000 Mw today signed an MoU with Gujarat government on Monday for setting up in what is billed as world's largest solar project. Talking to Maulik Pathak, Magaziner shared his plans of tapping this sun-shine sector. Excerpts:
So you have finally firmed your plans on Gujarat after exploring for over a year now. Have you identified the location?
We have identified about three to four locations and will be finalising them in the next three to four weeks. About 5,000 hectares of land is required for the project.
We have been to many places where they talk and talk. Finally, we came to Gujarat where people act. CCI is aiming to set up solar park with a generation capacity of 3,000 Mw which could go up to 5,000 Mw. The cost of the project would be about $ 8-10 billion for 3,000 Mw and for 5,000 Mw it would be about $ 15 billion. The feasibility study will be over in 2010 and the plant will start in 2012.
How much solar capacities has Clinton Climate Initiative planned worldwide?
We are planning to set up four solar parks across the globe. We are looking at South Africa, California in US, Australia and Gujarat. All these projects are of the same size as of now. The overall capacity to be generated from solar in the four projects could go as high as 20,000 Mw.
From the progress made so far, we feel that the Gujarat project will be the first to come up. And this would be the world's largest solar project.
The cost of generation for solar power is very high as compared to other fossil fuel fired units.
A 'solar park' can decrease the cost of solar power significantly. The intial cost for setting up the project is very high. Once the plant is set up, its cost comes down. There is no extra cost except managing the mirrors.
You don't have to adjust to any fluctuations in cost. In fact there is no fuel cost. It (solar plant) can go on as long as the sun shines. Ofcourse, we got to make arrangements when the weather is cloudy. As per our calculations, the cost of solar power generation in India will come down to Rs 5-6 per kilo watt hour/unit in next five years. And this will be lower than the cost of a coal fired plant.
How do you propose to finance these projects? How many developers have shown interest in the Gujarat project so far?
As the project is very costly in the initial phases we will arrange finance for the solar developers.
We are already in talks with Asian Development Bank for this. As I said earlier once the project takes off, the cost of generation goes down, so finance is essential initially. About 10 international developers have already shown interest in the project.
The Central government had recently written to the state to consider setting up a solar SEZ in Gujarat. Any plans to park your solar project in the SEZ? Also, do you propose to set up hybrid plants?
We have held talks with the Central government on this. In fact, we are very hopeful about the National Solar Mission.
Along with developers, research and development, even component manufacturers have shown interest in our project. So there is a good export market. We can certainly consider that (SEZ). Hybrid plants are something else that we are considering at the moment.
Clinton Foundation to set up five solar parks in Gujarat
Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI), a programme of US based William J Clinton Foundation, today signed an memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Gujarat government for setting up solar parks in Gujarat. Each park will serve as a concentrated zone of solar development and will include 3,000 plus megawatts of solar generation as well as manufacturing facilities
"Gujarat has been the first state in the country and the fourth in the world to set up a seperate department for climate change. The proposed 3000 Mw solar power project will see an investment of over Rs 50,000 crore and create employment opportunity for over 20,000," said Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi during the MoU signing ceremony.
The project will generate over 5200 million units of clean and green energy and will reduce CO2 emission to the extent of 5.2 million tonnes on an annual basis.
“CCI will initially set up parks in two locations and the cost of generation would come down by then. In all they would set up about four to five parks over a period of time. Each of these parks would generate about 700-800 Mw of solar power,” said S Jagdeesan, principal secretary, energy and petrochemicals, government of Gujarat.
A solar park can decrease the cost of solar power significantly, due to economies of scale and use of less expensive domestically manufactured components and it can serve as a solar manufacturing and techonology hub.
The state government has come up with a seperate Solar Policy to harness the huge potential of solar energy that the state has and has already allotted a capacity of over 700 Mw to 34 national and international developers.
source: Business Standard
Gujarat Is No 1 - First time in India that any state-level Government University conducted an online entrance exam
Gujarat Technological University (GTU) has bagged the prestigious eIndia Digital Learning Award for ICT enabled University of the Year. The Jury’s Choice award was given in recognition of the path-breaking initiative of taking Gujarat Common Entrance Test (GCET) online. GTU conducted the first ever online entrance examination for a state university in July 2009. GTU partnered with MeritTrac Services, India’s largest Skill Assessment Company for the online entrance exam from 1st to 5th July 2009 at 37 online test centers spread across 11 cities in Gujarat. It was the first time in India that any state-level Government University conducted an online entrance exam. This exam was held for the admissions to Masters of Business Administration (MBA) and Masters of Computer Application (MCA) courses in all GTU affiliated Institutions throughout Gujarat. MeritTrac Services, as an assessment partner managed the entire technology & delivery process of the exam. A total of 22,797 candidates took this 2 hour Online Test, in three batches every day. The entire process was managed online right from application processing to online counseling for seat allocation. Instantaneous evaluation of candidate responses ensured that the individual candidate scores were computed and displayed to the candidate on test completion. This feature ensured complete transparency of the examination process and enhanced the candidate’s belief in the admission process of the University.
According to Manish Bharadwaj, IAS, ex-Director of Technical Education, Govt. of Gujarat expressed great satisfaction at having won the award and praised the efforts of the staff & faculty of Gujarat Technological University for having successfully delivered GCET 2009. He also thanked the team from MeritTrac that had worked tirelessly as a partner to deliver GCET.
According to Prof. Bhuptani, Registrar, Gujarat Technological University, “We are elated to have won the eIndia Digital Learning ICT-enabled University Award 2009.For the first time in India, a state university successfully automated the examination delivery process-ensuring a fair & transparent testing process and a quick turnaround in announcing results. We are pleased to have found a capable partner in MeritTrac for successfully executing online Gujarat Common Entrance Test.”
MeritTrac supported the university in automating the examination delivery process and by ensuring quick turn around time for publishing question papers in a secure manner, setting up testing infrastructure across the state within existing college computer labs, managing the entire test administration and announcing results. GCET also had an online solution for student counseling & allocation of college seats.
According to Madan Padaki, Co- Founder & CEO, MeritTrac Services “We are delighted that GTU bagged the jury’s choice award for the ICT-enabled University 2009. We credit the visionary leadership at GTU which supported us all the way, creating a path-breaking online examination process for similar exams across India. We foresee more institutions joining the online bandwagon enthused by this success”
courtesy: Business Standard
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