Common counselling for admissions to IITs, NITs from academic year 2015 - 2016

New Delhi: The Councils of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and the National Institutes of Technology (NITs) decided to adopt common counselling for admissions to IITs, NITs and other CFTIs. The Technical Committee constituted to sort out the process flow differences between IITs and NITs counsellings has inter-alia recommended for joint seat allocation process, which is likely to be started from the academic year 2015 – 2016. 

This information was given by the Union Human Resource Development Minister, Smt. Smriti Irani in a written reply to the Lok Sabha question. 

Vedanta - Eternal Age Of Wonder

PRASHANT SOLOMON





Before Galileo Galilei and Nicholas Copernicus, we lived in a geocentric solar system.This was the accepted truth in medieval Europe, accepted by the Church, governments, scientists, philosophers and common people of the day. There was just one little problem ­ it was not true.Today, largely due to the bravery of the two European Renaissance scientists mentioned above, we know that we actually live in a heliocentric solar system. The sun, and not the Earth, is the centre of the solar system and all planets move around the sun and not the earth as was believed before.
The 21st century world has no problem believing that the Earth goes round the sun because we have known this since the time of our birth. But just a few centu ries ago, the world's paradigm of belief was turned over like a ship tossed about by a rogue wave at sea. This shift in perspective no doubt had a large impact on the future course of scientific discoveries, technological inventions and other human events. From a geocentric world we suddenly became a heliocentric one.
Our global perspective is about to shift once more. For now it is not a question of whether the sun moves around the Earth or vice versa, it is a question of our very existence as beings and our own spiritual destiny. We have been so used to considering ourselves as a human body with a soul that most of us have forgotten our own truth.We have forgotten our own destiny . We have forgotten our true being.

PHYSICS, NO BIO - Secret of chameleons' colour change is out

Geneva PTI





Light-reflecting cells in the skin provide chameleons their uncanny colour-changing abilties that help them attract mates and ward off predators, scientists have found. Unlike other animals that change col our, such as the squid and octopus, cha meleons do not modify their hues by accumulating or dispersing pigments within their skin cells, the researchers found.Instead, the lizards rely on structural changes that affect how light reflects off their skin. Researchers found that chameleons have two superposed thick layers of iridophore cells -iridescent cells that have pigment and reflect light.
The iridophore cells contain nanocrystals of different sizes, shapes and organi zations, key to the chameleons' dramatic colour shifts, the researchers said. The chameleons change the structural arrangement of the cells by relaxing or exciting the skin, which leads to a change in colour. The study is published in the journal Nature Communications.

No Indian university in Times rankings

Kounteya Sinha

London:





43 US Univs In Top 100 List; Harvard Ranks 1st

Not a single Indian university is regarded by academics internationally as being among the world's most prestigious, according to the Times Higher Education rankings released on Thursday .The annual list is based on the world's largest invitationonly survey of academics.Times Higher Education distributes the survey in 15 languages to over 10,500 academics in 142 countries.
According to the 2015 list, Harvard in the US is the world's top university followed by UK's University of Cambridge (2nd) and the University of Oxford (3rd), which displaces the Massachusetts Institute of Technology by one rank (4th).
The rest of the top 10 is made up of US institutions: Princeton University (7th), Yale University (8th), California Institute of Technology (9th) and Columbia University (10th). London and Paris are tied for top spot as the world cities with the highest number of top-ranked universities.
Brazil, Russia and China -the other BRIC nations -have at least one top 100 university in the list.
The US dominated the list with 43 universities in the top 100. The UK has the second highest number of representatives in the top 100: 12 (up from 10 last year and nine in 2013).
“It is a matter of concern that a country of India's intellectual history does not have a single university that is regarded by academics globally as being among the world's most prestigious,“ Phil Baty , editor of Times Higher Education Rankings, told TOI in an interview.
For the full report, log on to http:www.times ofindia.com

Swachh Bharat may add 1% extra service tax to 5-star bills

New Delhi: TIMES NEWS NETWORK





The government has identified five “high-end services“, bills in fourand five-star hotels for one, which will attract additional service tax to fund PM Modi's Swachh Bharat campaign, leaving a slightly bigger dent in your pocket.Sources, however, indicated that against an “enabling provision“ of levying up to 2% cess over the 14% service tax, the government is expected to notify an additional 1% levy. The Centre aims to mop up around Rs 14,000 crore annually for the Swachh Bharat Kosh, which includes the 1% cess on the five services, apart from a levy of Rs 200 a tonne on coal.Details on the other four services were not available.
The move to impose service tax is expected to fetch the government around Rs 2,000 crore a year, while the coal levy is expected to generate around Rs 6,000 crore. Further, public sector companies are being asked to chip in with a part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) contribution to the fund. On Monday, TOI was the first to report about state-run banks being asked to contribute for the campaign that was flagged off by Modi on October 2.
While increasing the service tax from 12% to 14%, the government had proposed the cess, but had clarified that it would be imposed only on select items and would be applicable from the day it was notified. The twin moves have come in for criticism as it is seen to be impacting household budgets but the government has argued that the move is a transition towards the rollout of Goods and Services Tax. The Centre is targeting to launch the ambitious tax reform from April next ye

Natural disasters will soon cost the world $314 billion annually: UN

In the run up to the third global conference on disaster risk reduction this week, a UN body has released an estimate of how much governments need to set aside to make up for losses caused by natural disasters. The UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), in a report, has said as much as US $314 billion will have to be spent every year to meet annual average losses from just earthquakes, tsunamis, tropical cyclones and river flooding.

The report serves as an alarm for nations as they convene for the third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, beginning March 14, at Sendai city in Japan.

With over 8,000 expected delegates, this event will see the launch of a new global Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction that will replace the 10-year Hyogo Framework for Action adopted at a 2005 UN conference in Kobe. At Sendai, countries are expected to announce their commitments on reducing the impact of disasters, which have claimed over 1.3 million lives and cost the global economy at least $2 trillion in the past 20 years.

Small cost for big gains

The report is well-timed and provides a big message—it is high-time the world focuses on managing risks than just managing the number of disasters. 
The report, Making Development Sustainable: The Future of Disaster Risk Management, provides a sober review of the 10 years which have passed since the last world conference on disaster risk reduction at Kobe in Japan when nations adopted the Hyogo Framework for Action, the global guide for disaster risk management.

According to the report estimates, an investment of US $6 billion annually in disaster risk management would result in avoided losses of US $360 billion over the next 15 years (till 2030). It states that this US $6 billion is just 0.1 per cent of total forecast expenditure of US $6 trillion annually on new infrastructure.

While launching the report , UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned that “growing global inequality, increasing exposure to natural hazards, rapid urbanization and the overconsumption of energy and natural resources threaten to drive risk to dangerous and unpredictable levels with systemic global impacts.”

Margareta Wahlström, head of UNISDR, said: “The 2015 Global Assessment Report demonstrates clearly that many countries face significant challenges because of their inability to manage the fiscal burden created by large-scale disaster events. She said “700,000 people have died in disaster events over the last ten years. A total of 1.7 billion people have had their lives disrupted in some way. It is of great concern that economic losses in major reported disaster events come to $1.4 trillion.”

Unequally shared burden

Relating the loss of human life years to the global disasters (that were reported), the report reveals that between 1980 and 2012, more than 1.3 billion life years were lost worldwide in internationally reported disasters, making for an annual average of 42 million life years. It is almost equivalent to loss of life years due to TB or malaria. Over 90 per cent of the total life years lost in disasters are spread across low and middle-income countries. The risk is unevenly spread and concentrated in low-income households within the countries.

Disaster risk is, therefore, a challenge that is unevenly spread, says the report and asks developing nations to increase capital investment and social expenditure substantially if they are to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals post-2015.

Source: UNISDR Factsheet

India’s GDP most at risk due to floods

The UNISDR report has also pointed to a new analysis of NGO World Resources Institute (WRI), which shows that flood risks affect the “lower and middle-income countries” the most. WRI warns that that the developing world is expected to see more GDP exposed to flood risks in 2030, driven largely by socio-economic change. The socio-economic development is expected to concentrate more people, buildings, infrastructure and other assets in vulnerable regions and such regions are more prone to risks. Top 15 countries in this ranking account for nearly 80 per cent of the total population affected every year and all of these nations fall in the category of least developed or developing.

Three South Asian nations—India, Bangladesh and Pakistan—are most at risk from river floods, with an increasing number of people threatened because of extensive urbanisation and the climate challenges in low-lying regions,  says the study. India, with 4.84 million people at risk due to floods, has by far the most GDP exposed to risks, at $14.3 billion.

Risks of profit-centric globalisation 
Wise investment decisions and planning are undoubtedly critical since the world will need to spend $57 trillion to $67 trillion till 2030 for infrastructure development, as per McKinsey estimates. But the investment decisions rarely take hazard exposure into account, or otherwise they excessively discount disaster risk due to the potential for short-term returns. As competition increases, large flows of profit-centric investment may continue to flow into the developing world, the hazard-exposed areas, leading to further increase in intensive risks.

With foreign investment continuing to flow into countries highly exposed to natural hazards, those which are unable to demonstrate robust resilience may lose an element of their competitiveness, warns the 5th annual Natural Hazards Risk Atlas too, released by Verisk Maplecroft last week. According to the report, more than 50 per cent of cities in the world which are most at risk of natural disasters are located in just four countries—the Philippines, China, Japan and Bangladesh—and three out of these are developing.

Censure for nations

The UNISDR has expressed disappointment over the lack of political will and determination in promoting and integrating disaster risk reduction into development programming, as per the Hyogo Framework of Action, and demands more action from the countries as this framework on disaster risk reduction comes to a close. At the Sendai conference, the member states are like to adopt a new framework that will succeed the Hyogo framework. This new framework will guide how the countries should achieve the policy goal of disaster risk reduction in the coming years.

Eight reasons to act now   Future losses (expected annual losses) from disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, cyclones and flooding are now reaching an average of US $250 billion to US$300 billion. Future losses (expected annual losses) are now estimated at US $314 billion in the built environment alone. Annual investments of US $6 billion only in appropriate disaster risk management strategies could generate benefits in terms of risk reduction of US $360 billion. Low and middle-income countries are more prone to disaster risks. In the last decade, losses due to extensive risk in 85 countries and territories were equivalent to a total of US $94 billion. Between 1980 and 2012, 42 million life years were lost in internationally reported disasters each year and around 80 per cent of the total life years lost in disasters are spread across low- and middle-income countries. Climate change is and would magnify risks and increase the cost of disasters. Developing world is expected to see more GDP exposed to flood risks in 2030, driven largely by socio-economic change. Whether developed or developing nations, climate change will affect all. By 2030, river floods could affect 2 million more people and climate change is expected to drive 70 percent of this. The governments must now be serious about tackling the underlying drivers of disaster risk—poverty, climate change, poor urban planning and land use, and lack of building codes, which contribute significantly to the creation of risk.

As the nations gather to decide the post-2015 framework—for  disaster risk reduction at Sendai, Sustainable Development Goals at New York and Climate Change at Paris (COP 21),  the UNISDR and WRI analyses have definitely contributed to drawing up the future of disaster risk management. So, there is need to focus on the underlying causes and the drivers of disaster risk—poverty, climate change, poor urban planning, land use, and lack of building codes. And there is a need to re-interpret disaster risk. 

Investing in disaster risk reduction makes a good business sense and demands serious, collaborative action and commitment from government and the private sector. 

CAG report a wake-up call for ‘sick’ Assam PSUs

he Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has exposed the Assam government’s claims of efficiency and growth by highlighting how several Public Sector Undertakings (PSU) have incurred huge losses in the last fiscal. A CAG report for the year ending March 31, 2013-2014, shows that of 40 PSUs in Assam, 21 incurred losses totalling Rs 484.87 crore during this period.

“During the year 2013-14, out of 40 working state PSUs, 16 earned profit of Rs 215.72 crore and 21 state PSUs incurred losses of Rs 484.87 crore as per their latest finalised accounts as on September 30, 2014,” the report says. 

Heavy losses were incurred by the Assam Power Distribution Company Ltd (Rs 418.14 crore), Assam State Transport Corporation (Rs 33.43 crore) and Assam Industrial Development Corporation Ltd (Rs 7.46 crore).

“The Assam government will look into the issue at the earliest, and look for solutions to minimise these at the earliest,” says Pradyut Bordoloi, Margherita MLA and advisor to the Assam government.

CAG report says the losses could be attributed to various deficiencies observed in the functioning of these PSUs. It also discusses how with better management, losses can be minimised and profits enhanced substantially. “The state PSUs can discharge their role efficiently only if they are financially self-reliant. There is a need for improving professionalism and accountability in the functioning,” the report says.

CAG also says the quality of accounts of the PSUs need an improvement. “Out of 64 accounts finalised by 24 working state PSUs (including four accounts of three statutory corporations) during October 2013 to September 2013, 63 accounts received qualified certificates. There are instances of non-compliance with accounting standards in 21 accounts. Reports of statutory auditors on internal control of the companies revealed several weak areas,” the report adds.

Regarding Assam Power Distribution Company Ltd, which incurred the bulk of the losses, the report says the capital employed by the company was eroded by accumulated losses and it had been negative from 2009-10 to 2013-14. The report says that the company extended undue benefit to consumers by not recovering a penalty of Rs 45.92 lakh for overdrawing power. Delay in replacing defective meters and incorrect energy consumption billing also resulted in a loss of Rs 46.95 lakh to the company. Irregularities in management of distribution franchisee agreements and wrong classification of consumers were also identified as reasons behind the loss.

On Assam Industrial Development Corporation, the report says the company did not prepare any long- or short-term plan of its own to promote small, medium and large-scale industries in the state. It adds that the corporation incurred an expenditure of Rs 8.36 crore against the approved Rs 5.10 crore for the construction of an integrated infrastructure development centre at Malinibeel in Cachar district, leading to a cost escalation of Rs 3.26 crore.

According to the Committee for Struggle to Revive Public Sector Undertaking in Assam, a group battling for the revival of sick PSUs, one of the major reasons behind the losses incurred by PSUs is political interference.

“There have been instances when an MLA has been made the chairman of a PSU. When this happens, the chairman tries to use the PSU to woo his voters and gives excessive employment to his supporters even by violating guidelines, resulting in financial crisis,” Pradip Neog, the general secretary of the committee, says.

Pranab Sarma, a former administrative manager of the Swahid Kushal Konwar Cotton Spinning Mill (SKKCSM) agrees with Neog.

PSU SKKCSM was established in the late 1980s and could never earn profit due to mismanagement and political interference. In 2001, SKKCSM was privatised and taken over by Bhattar (Assam) Spinning Mills Limited, a sister concern of Kolkata-based BSL group. “Even this attempt was a failure and SKKCSM had to be shut down,” Sarma says.