Gujarat to hold National Children Science Congress

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.

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

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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. The department intends to increase the mangrove cover in the state from its current 936 sq km to 1086 sq km over the next five years, according to Chief Conservator of Forest DS Narve who is in charge the project planning, monitoring and evaluation looks after mangrove forestation. The Japanese bank has approved a loan of Rs 832. To be disbursed in instalments over five years, the money will be spent on the development of mangrove and other forest covers in the state, Narve said. The reason for selecting Kutch as the beginning point is because the region accounts for the highest fish catch in the state and the mangroves work as breeding ground for various species, said Kutch District Forest officer N Vasavada. Kori creek in Kutch offers a rich haul. These fish come to the mangroves to breed. According to Narve, Gujarat has a mangrove cover of 936 sq km. Of these Kutch alone accounts for about 700 sq km followed by 150 q km in Jamnagar and 96 sq km in Bhavnagar and south Gujarat districts. The direct and indirect benefits from mangroves in Kutch alone has been estimated to be worth Rs 600 crore a year, Vasavada claimed. Apart from being natural hatchery for fish, mangrove cover protects the population from cyclone and tsunami. It also checks salinity ingress in the coastal areas, he pointed out.

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.''

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.”