Shri R Gopalan former IAS (Tamil Nadu 1976) presently posted as PESB Member, will be appointed as Member, Debt Recovery Tribunal. Gopalan is set to complete his tenure in Public Enterprise Selection Board on 31st April 2016.
IndianBureaucracy.com wishes Shri Gopalan the very best .
Summary:Gravity: we barely ever think about it, at least until we slip on ice or stumble on the stairs. To many ancient thinkers, gravity wasn’t even a force — it was just the natural tendency of objects to sink toward the center of Earth, while planets were subject to other, unrelated laws.
Gravity: we barely ever think about it, at least until we slip on ice or stumble on the stairs. To many ancient thinkers, gravity wasn’t even a force — it was just the natural tendency of objects to sink toward the center of Earth, while planets were subject to other, unrelated laws.
Of course, we now know that gravity does far more than make things fall down. It governs the motion of planets around the Sun, holds galaxies together and determines the structure of the universe itself. We also recognize that gravity is one of the four fundamental forces of nature, along with electromagnetism, the weak force and the strong force.
The modern theory of gravity — Einstein’s general theory of relativity — is one of the most successful theories we have. At the same time, we still don’t know everything about gravity, including the exact way it fits in with the other fundamental forces. But here are six weighty facts we do know about gravity.
1. Gravity is by far the weakest force we know. Gravity only attracts — there’s no negative version of the force to push things apart. And while gravity is powerful enough to hold galaxies together, it is so weak that you overcome it every day. If you pick up a book, you’re counteracting the force of gravity from all of Earth.
For comparison, the electric force between an electron and a proton inside an atom is roughly one quintillion (that’s a one with 30 zeroes after it) times stronger than the gravitational attraction between them. In fact, gravity is so weak, we don’t know exactly how weak it is.
2. Gravity and weight are not the same thing. Astronauts on the space station float, and sometimes we lazily say they are in zero gravity. But that’s not true. The force of gravity on an astronaut is about 90 percent of the force they would experience on Earth. However, astronauts are weightless, since weight is the force the ground (or a chair or a bed or whatever) exerts back on them on Earth.
Take a bathroom scale onto an elevator in a big fancy hotel and stand on it while riding up and down, ignoring any skeptical looks you might receive. Your weight fluctuates, and you feel the elevator accelerating and decelerating, yet the gravitational force is the same. In orbit, on the other hand, astronauts move along with the space station. There is nothing to push them against the side of the spaceship to make weight. Einstein turned this idea, along with his special theory of relativity, into general relativity.
3. Gravity makes waves that move at light speed. General relativity predicts gravitational waves. If you have two stars or white dwarfs or black holes locked in mutual orbit, they slowly get closer as gravitational waves carry energy away. In fact, Earth also emits gravitational waves as it orbits the sun, but the energy loss is too tiny to notice.
We’ve had indirect evidence for gravitational waves for 40 years, but the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) only confirmed the phenomenon this year. The detectors picked up a burst of gravitational waves produced by the collision of two black holes more than a billion light-years away.
One consequence of relativity is that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light in vacuum. That goes for gravity, too: If something drastic happened to the sun, the gravitational effect would reach us at the same time as the light from the event.
4. Explaining the microscopic behavior of gravity has thrown researchers for a loop. The other three fundamental forces of nature are described by quantum theories at the smallest of scales — specifically, the Standard Model. However, we still don’t have a fully working quantum theory of gravity, though researchers are trying.
One avenue of research is called loop quantum gravity, which uses techniques from quantum physics to describe the structure of space-time. It proposes that space-time is particle-like on the tiniest scales, the same way matter is made of particles. Matter would be restricted to hopping from one point to another on a flexible, mesh-like structure. This allows loop quantum gravity to describe the effect of gravity on a scale far smaller than the nucleus of an atom.
A more famous approach is string theory, where particles — including gravitons — are considered to be vibrations of strings that are coiled up in dimensions too small for experiments to reach. Neither loop quantum gravity nor string theory, nor any other theory is currently able to provide testable details about the microscopic behavior of gravity.
5. Gravity might be carried by massless particles called gravitons. In the Standard Model, particles interact with each other via other force-carrying particles. For example, the photon is the carrier of the electromagnetic force. The hypothetical particles for quantum gravity are gravitons, and we have some ideas of how they should work from general relativity. Like photons, gravitons are likely massless. If they had mass, experiments should have seen something — but it doesn’t rule out a ridiculously tiny mass.
6. Quantum gravity appears at the smallest length anything can be.Gravity is very weak, but the closer together two objects are, the stronger it becomes. Ultimately, it reaches the strength of the other forces at a very tiny distance known as the Planck length, many times smaller than the nucleus of an atom.
That’s where quantum gravity’s effects will be strong enough to measure, but it’s far too small for any experiment to probe. Some people have proposed theories that would let quantum gravity show up at close to the millimeter scale, but so far we haven’t seen those effects. Others have looked at creative ways to magnify quantum gravity effects, using vibrations in a large metal bar or collections of atoms kept at ultracold temperatures.
It seems that, from the smallest scale to the largest, gravity keeps attracting scientists’ attention. Perhaps that’ll be some solace the next time you take a tumble, when gravity grabs your attention too.
Source:SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory(science)
The IGN has awarded Thales and Airbus Defence and Space the GeoMaps contract to supply the French Ministry of Defence database with digital geographic data on a range of scales, including city maps. The data will mainly be based on images acquired by the two Pléiades satellites, significantly increasing the accuracy of the maps to be produced. This contract runs from 2016 to 2021 and guarantees the consistent geometry and formatting of all reference mapping data to optimise interoperability between the French Ministry of Defence’s different systems and services, as well as with their allies and partners.
The IGN, acting for the Direction Générale de l’Armement (DGA), the French defence procurement agency, has thus renewed its confidence in this consortium, founded more than a decade ago, to create TopoBase Défense, which GeoMaps now supersedes. It is one of the main building blocks of the GEODE 4D programme – the four-dimensional defence data (geographical, hydrographic, oceanographic and meteorological) – which integrates all the systems required to keep the French armed forces sufficiently informed of the nature and characteristics of the theatre concerned. In the future, the GeoMaps data will be managed by the
GEODE 4D programme and disseminated to all the defence systems and in all theatres of operations.
The French Military Staff will be capable of generating highly value-added data to meet the challenges that defence forces now face: to recall the latest multi-scale geographical data (from national to urban level) and to keep it highly precise and updated regularly to ensure that the information is accurate. The areas to be produced will be defined according to the respective needs of the armed forces.
The Thales-Airbus Defence and Space consortium will handle the whole process: from analysing what the Military Staff need, through to running quality control checks on the products supplied. This also includes managing specifications, defining the production framework (procedures, tools, controls) and is based on a large network of SMEs to ensure that all of the data is consistent and homogeneous.
“We are very proud of the confidence that has been shown in our consortium. It really recognises our teams’ expertise and the know-how of the French SMEs we rely on. The accuracy of the data we provide is vital if the operations which French armed forces are involved in and the fight against terrorism in particular will succeed,” said Bernhard Brenner, Head of Intelligence Business Cluster at Airbus Defence and Space.
Key Points
Thales is a trusted partner to the military and security industry. With GeoMaps, the consortium stands behind them, with support in theatres of operations, providing them with high added-value data to meet their varying operational constraints and conducting operations with intelligence systems. In an age of asymmetrical conflicts, being able to rely on highly precise geographical data gives them a real technical advantage on the ground” Jean-Michel Lagarde, Deputy General Manager, Secure communications and Information System.
Delineating emerging growth drivers, Dr Naushad Forbes, President, CII, pegged India’s GDP growth rate for 2016-17 at 7.75 – 8.25 per cent. “Strong macroeconomic fundamentals, favorable business sentiments, and downward trend in interest rates are significant positives for the economy. CII estimates that Government infrastructure investments and increased investments from the private sector will boost GDP growth to the 8 per cent range,” he stated.
Dr Forbes, Co-Chairman, Forbes Marshall, was addressing his first press conference since assuming charge as CII President on April 5.
Noting risk factors, Dr Forbes added that the external demand situation would have to be closely watched. A flat corporate performance, fiscal pressure from the Seventh Pay Commission and potential increase in oil prices in the coming year would be further risk factors.
With this mix of positive and risk factors, Dr Forbes announced the CII Theme for 2016-17 as ‘Building National Competitiveness’.
Giving the example of countries such as Japan and Korea, he stressed, “No country has grown without rapid increases in productivity at all levels, including human resources, capital and innovation. India must accelerate its productivity attainments through strategic interventions on building human talent, quality, and technology.”
Employment generation and entrepreneurship are imperatives to address inclusiveness of the growth process, felt Dr Forbes. He observed that initiatives such as Standup India launched by Hon’ble Prime Minister would create new opportunities for inclusive growth. He also outlined CII initiatives in this critical area.
The new CII President lauded the Government for its strong reform agenda and highlighted further areas to be addressed at the policy level to enhance competitiveness. He urged for the quick passage of the Constitutional Amendment to introduce the Goods and Services Tax, adding that this would make India a single market and reduce transaction costs.
The Bankruptcy Bill and a uniform public procurement policy are further items on the legislative agenda. States should consider amending their labour regulations and land acquisition processes to create a better investment climate, stressed Dr Forbes.
According to the CII President, non-legislative reforms that can be implemented through administrative action should be accelerated. Some of these include expansion of the JAM trinity of Jan Dhan Yojana, Aadhar and mobile telephony, grandfathering and sunset clauses for new Government schemes, and continued action on infrastructure investments.
The CII President delineated six key enablers for building national competitiveness and announced new CII action initiatives for the year for each:
1. Human Development:
CII will set up 3 Model Career Centers in Gurgaon, Mumbai and Chennai. A hundred district-level corporate training centers would be established in 2016-17.
CII will set up the CII University in Amaravati, the designated new capital of Andhra Pradesh. It would also work with the Government on taking 10 public and private universities to world class levels.
2. Ease of Doing Business:
CII would continuously monitor Ease of Doing Business progress. An industry-Trade Union dialogue would be commenced for better industrial relations.
3. Corporate Integrity and Good Citizenship:
CII is launching the CII Model Code of Conduct and Code of Good Corporate Citizenship to guide members on ethical business.
A course would be commenced in collaboration with Indian School of Business (ISB) and GE on training Compliance Officers.
4. Innovation and Technical Capability:
To facilitate R&D, CII proposes to establish India Design Center, Indian Industry IP Foundation, and a National Startup Center for non-IT rural entrepreneurship. The Confederation called for targeting total R&D spending at 2 per cent of GDP with equal shares of public and private sectors.
5. Sustainability:
In line with the country’s commitment to reduce emissions intensity by a third by 2030, CII would undertake a national movement for doubling energy efficiency by that year. The Green Company rating, GreenCo, will be disseminated for adoption by all CII members over the next three years.
CII also recommended a comprehensive policy for developing solar energy, including solar panel manufacturing, standards and financial strategies.
6. Integrating with the World:
Dr Forbes announced the launch of CII Market Facilitation Services for end-to-end services for Indian companies to operate overseas. Likewise, services to overseas companies entering India would also be provided.
The Confederation proposes to set up a world-class International Convention Center in Amaravati in collaboration with the Government of Andhra Pradesh.
Dr Forbes also outlined CII policy recommendations for all six enablers.
Power Grid Corporation ofIndia Limited (POWERGRID) is conferred India Pride Awards 2015-16 for ‘Excellence in Energy and Power’ in the category of PSU-Central by the leading media house, Dainik Bhaskar. The Awards were presented by Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu, Hon’ble Union Minister of Urban Development, Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation and Parliamentary Affairs in the august presence of Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Hon’ble Union Minister of Communications and Information Technology, and Shri Radha Mohan Singh, Hon’ble Union Minister of Agriculture at a function held in New Delhi.
IndianBureaucracy.com wishes the very best.
At a session on ‘Can we have a common national agenda for India@75?’ at the CII Annual Session 2016 with ‘Building National Competitiveness’ as the theme in New Delhi today, participants from diverse political parties shared their views for building India. The session was chaired by Mr Rajan Navani, Chairman, CII’s India@75 Council and Managing Director, Jetline Group of Companies.
“We need to see India as one country, with a common ideology even as we address the diverse challenges that the country faces,” said Mr Dushyant Singh, Member of Parliament (LS), Bharatiya Janata Party. He said his three priority areas were agriculture, water conservation and security. It is necessary to increase productivity in agriculture, and as manpower shifts from agriculture to industry, it is critical to re-skill/upskill them.
Mr Deepender Singh Hooda, Member of Parliament (LS), Indian National Congress, said that his vision for India@75 is an India that allows every citizen to be the best that he/she can be, and offers equal opportunity to all irrespective of caste, creed or any other differences. He added that he sees India as the “most emotionally integrated nation”, and that the diversity of India needs to be recognized and respected. His priority areas include addressing the mismatch between a sector’s contribution to GDP and number of people employed in it. Second, one needs to look at the drivers of economic growth – whether growth should be consumption driven or investment driven.
Ms Supriya Sule, Member of Parliament (LS), Nationalist Congress Party, said that there is a need for all to work together to make India a strong and prosperous country. She stressed that there should be space for healthy and open debate and divergence of views, even as everyone works towards a common goal.
Mr Jayadev Galla, Member of Parliament (LS), Telugu Desam Party, advocated strong participation by all in bringing about changes. He stressed that voting should be made compulsory to increase participation in shaping an agenda for India. He added that while everyone talks about rampant corruption, the change should start with civil society. We also need to look at areas such as education, skills etc and focus on job creation.
Mr Rajiv I Modi, Chairman, CII National Committee on Pharma and Chairman and Managing Director, Cadila Pharmaceuticals Ltd, said we should have a common aspiration prosperity and development and should work towards making that a reality. He stressed that structural changes are required to work towards building a prosperous India.
Three NTPC Stations – 460 MW Talcher Thermal with PLF 93.15 , 2000 MW Singrauli with PLF 92.61, 3000 MW Talcher Kaniha with PLF 90.95 are the Top three Best Performing Power Stations in the country in terms of Plant Load Factor( PLF) during FY16. NTPC recorded highest ever Annual Generation of 241.98 BUs ( excluding JVs ) in the financial year 2015-16. NTPC’s solar stations achieved highest ever generation of 160.8 MUs at a CUF of 16.64 %.
Company reduced its imported coal consumption by 42.19% during the year to 9.47MMT from 16.38 MMT last year. Company’s efforts for rationalization of coal linkages, reduction in imported coal consumption, enforcement of third party sampling of coal and other measures led to reduction in energy charges of coal stations by nearly 20% during second half of FY 16. NTPC’s endeavor is to further bring down the energy charges to help the Discoms.
With capacity addition of 9550 MW during the current plan, NTPC is all geared up to achieve the target of 11920 MW for the 12th five year plan ending 2016-17. Company exceeded its capacity addition target by adding 2255 MW taking NTPC Groups total installed capacity to 46653 MW as on 31st March, 2016 .
The Reserve Bank of India is taking a number of steps to ensure timely credit availability as also improving cash flow to the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) which stand as the “beacon of hope” in an otherwise difficult economic environment, RBI Deputy Governor Mr S S Mundra said at an ASSOCHAM meeting.
Addressing the Bankers’- Borrowers interaction and the panel discussion with top bankers and MSME Secretary Mr K K Jalan, the RBI Deputy Governor said the central bank is in active discussion with the government, IDBI , SIDBI and other key stakeholders for launching an electronic platform for online application of loans, tracking of the status of the application with the help of seamless availability of key information on credit worthiness and guarantee.
To be known as ‘Universal Udyami’ portal, it will have crucial links with several other related portals, eventually making life easier for the entrepreneurs and fixing responsibility of the banks, Mr Mundra said at the ASSOCHAM meeting.
Besides, the RBI has issued licences to three entities for discounting of trade receivables of the MSMEs from the large corporates including the public sector enterprises. The government has also been approached to provide a legislative back up to the process, he said.
Participating in the panel discussion, MSME Secretary said banks need to do more for sanctioning of loans well in time to the entrepreneurs. The feedback given to the government suggests that branch managers take as much as 8-9 months to process the application of the micro and small enterprises. He said , top bank managements must fix responsibilities at the branch level for such delays. Mr Jalan suggested setting up of MSME committees at the board levels of the banks for overseeing the timely disbursal of credit to the sector, which is so vital to the Indian economy. He regretted no responsibility is fixed for delays in sanctioning of loans to the small entrepreneurs. “How many managers have been charge-sheeted “for delaying the sanctions? He said initiatives like online platform would help, adding the government is also actively reviewing the payment cycle of the PSUs to the MSMEs.
In his presentation, Chairman and Managing Director of the SIDBI, Mr Kshatrapati Shivaji said the e-portal ‘Standupmitra.in launched by Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi yesterday would be a game-changer for the MSMEs in terms of credit availability, other statutory sanctions to the sector, wherein the applications would be tracked not only by the loan seekers but the higher-ups in different departments and the banks, including the RBI.
Moderating the panel discussion, ASSOCHAM President Mr Sunil Kanoria said while fear of CAG, CBI and CVC is coming in the way of sanctions of bank loans, the government payments also remain a big challenge for the sector. He said while an account becomes non-performing asset in 90 days, the government payments as also those from the public sector units do not materialise in three months.
For the seventh consecutive time, BHEL has been conferred the India Pride Award 2015-16 for Excellence in Heavy Industries. Significantly, BHELhas been winning this award every year since the award was instituted. The award was received by Sh. Atul Sobti, CMD, BHEL, from Sh. Ravi Shankar Prasad, Hon’ble Union Minister of Communications and Information Technology.
IndianBureaucracy.com wishes the very best.
In continued initiative towards Swachh Bharat Mission by the Government, Shri M.Venkaiah Naidu, Hon’ble Minister of Urban Development, Government of India, inaugurated a Namma Public Toilet, constructed at Preet Vihar Shopping Centre, New Delhi. Shri Rajiv Gauba, Secretary(UD), Shri D S Mishra, Addl Secretary(UD) and Dr. Anoop Kumar Mittal, CMD, NBCC were among other dignitaries, present on the occasion. Implemented by NBCC, a Navratna CPSE of the Government of India, at a cost of Rs.13 lac, the modular toilet has been designed to discourage open defecation and is made of composite board.
The toilet module is prefabricated single mould without joints and its interiors are seamless with no sharp edges and corners to avoid dust accumulation. Made to serve the convenience of physically challenged, women and men, the public toilet has also been provided with excellent interior lighting with natural light in day by a polycarbonate translucent roof sheet with metal protection to meet the requirements of sufficient power supply in the toilet all along. In order to address the issue of waste disposal which is of primary importance, the whole system has been connected with underground sewer lines already existing at the place.
This is a significant initiative by NBCC which, under the patronage of the Ministry of Urban Development, has taken a lead in Swachh Bharat campaign of the Government of India, beginning since 2014.
NBCC has been implementing a total of 30 such NAMMA Model Public Toilets in Delhi under its CSR initiative and being implemented by the Company Subsidiary named NBCC Services Ltd. (NSL), which has been mandated to take up such activities all across the country. Out of these 30 Toilets, 21 Toilets have already been implemented with one inaugurated on 2nd October 2015 at Bhikaji Cama Place, New Delhi. The remaining 19 Toilets at other locations of Delhi, have also been inaugurated on the same day alongwith the one at Preet Vihar, New Delhi
It is worth mentioning that the Company under its CSR Scheme, has been executing at present, huge number of Public Toilets in Village Girl Schools in various States of the Country.
As a commitment to the fulfilment of social obligations, the Company during the launch of Swachh Bharat Mission by the Hon’ble Prime Minister in October 2014, volunteered to construct the user-friendly pre-fabricated public toilet at Mandir Marg, New Delhi, which was inaugurated by the Prime Minister himself to set the tone for the Swachh Bharat Campaign.
The Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) is seeking qualified candidates for the post of Director Technical, RITES.
Last Date:13th June 2016
More:RITES
Shri Anil K. Gupta, Chairman & Managing Director Container Corporation of India Limited received the Dainik Bhaskar “7th India Pride Awards- 2015- 2016” for outstanding contribution of PSUs to Nation’s dream of “Make in India” for creating excellence in Transport Sector from Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu, Hon’ble Union Minister of Urban Development, Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation and Parliamentary Affairs. The function was presided by Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Hon’ble Union Minister of Communication and Information Technology. Shri Radha Mohan Singh, Hon’ble Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmer’s Welfare was the Guest of Honour.
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