MITU

INDIA : overview

2008-01-08T15:10:00.001+05:30

Background:
Aryan tribes from the northwest infiltrated onto the Indian subcontinent about 1500 B.C.; their merger with the earlier Dravidian inhabitants created the classical Indian culture. The Maurya Empire of the 4th and 3rd centuries B.C. - which reached its zenith under ASHOKA - united much of South Asia. The Golden Age ushered in by the Gupta dynasty (4th to 6th centuries A.D.) saw a flowering of Indian science, art, and culture. Arab incursions starting in the 8th century and Turkic in the 12th were followed by those of European traders, beginning in the late 15th century. By the 19th century, Britain had assumed political control of virtually all Indian lands. Indian armed forces in the British army played a vital role in both World Wars. Nonviolent resistance to British colonialism led by Mohandas GANDHI and Jawaharlal NEHRU brought independence in 1947. The subcontinent was divided into the secular state of India and the smaller Muslim state of Pakistan. A third war between the two countries in 1971 resulted in East Pakistan becoming the separate nation of Bangladesh. India's nuclear weapons testing in 1998 caused Pakistan to conduct its own tests that same year. The dispute between the countries over the state of Kashmir is ongoing, but discussions and confidence-building measures have led to decreased tensions since 2002. Despite impressive gains in economic investment and output, India faces pressing problems such as significant overpopulation, environmental degradation, extensive poverty, and ethnic and religious strife.

Geography India
Location: Southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between Burma and Pakistan
Geographic coordinates: 20 00 N, 77 00 E
Map references: Asia
Area: total: 3,287,590 sq km
land: 2,973,190 sq km
water: 314,400 sq km
Area - comparative: slightly more than one-third the size of the US
Land boundaries: total: 14,103 km
border countries: Bangladesh 4,053 km, Bhutan 605 km, Burma 1,463 km, China 3,380 km, Nepal 1,690 km, Pakistan 2,912 km
Coastline: 7,000 km
Maritime claims: territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
Climate: varies from tropical monsoon in south to temperate in north
Terrain: upland plain (Deccan Plateau) in south, flat to rolling plain along the Ganges, deserts in west, Himalayas in north
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Kanchenjunga 8,598 m
Natural resources: coal (fourth-largest reserves in the world), iron ore, manganese, mica, bauxite, titanium ore, chromite, natural gas, diamonds, petroleum, limestone, arable land
Land use: arable land: 48.83%
permanent crops: 2.8%
other: 48.37% (2005)
Irrigated land: 558,080 sq km (2003)
Internal Renewable Water Resources: 1,907.8 cu km (1999)
Freshwater Withdrawal (Domestic/Industrial/Agricultural): Total: 645.84 cu km/yr (8%/5%/86%)
Per capita: 585 cu m/yr (2000)
Natural hazards: droughts; flash floods, as well as widespread and destructive flooding from monsoonal rains; severe thunderstorms; earthquakes
Environment - current issues: deforestation; soil erosion; overgrazing; desertification; air pollution from industrial effluents and vehicle emissions; water pollution from raw sewage and runoff of agricultural pesticides; tap water is not potable throughout the country; huge and growing population is overstraining natural resources
Environment - international agreements: party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note: dominates South Asian subcontinent; near important Indian Ocean trade routes; Kanchenjunga, third tallest mountain in the world, lies on the border with Nepal

People India
Population: 1,129,866,154 (July 2007 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 31.8% (male 188,208,196/female 171,356,024)
15-64 years: 63.1% (male 366,977,821/female 346,034,565)
65 years and over: 5.1% (male 27,258,259/female 30,031,289) (2007 est.)
Median age: total: 24.8 years
male: 24.5 years
female: 25.2 years (2007 est.)
Population growth rate: 1.606% (2007 est.)
Birth rate: 22.69 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Death rate: 6.58 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Net migration rate: -0.05 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.12 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.098 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.061 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.908 male(s)/female
total population: 1.064 male(s)/female (2007 est.)
Infant mortality rate: total: 34.61 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 39.42 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 29.23 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 68.59 years
male: 66.28 years
female: 71.17 years (2007 est.)
Total fertility rate: 2.81 children born/woman (2007 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.9% (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 5.1 million (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: 310,000 (2001 est.)
Major infectious diseases: degree of risk: high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A and E, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: dengue fever, malaria, and Japanese encephalitis are high risks in some locations
animal contact disease: rabies
note: highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza has been identified among birds in this country or surrounding region; it poses a negligible risk with extremely rare cases possible among US citizens who have close contact with birds (2007)
Nationality: noun: Indian(s)
adjective: Indian
Ethnic groups: Indo-Aryan 72%, Dravidian 25%, Mongoloid and other 3% (2000)
Religions: Hindu 80.5%, Muslim 13.4%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.9%, other 1.8%, unspecified 0.1% (2001 census)
Languages: English enjoys associate status but is the most important language for national, political, and commercial communication; Hindi is the national language and primary tongue of 30% of the people; there are 14 other official languages: Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, and Sanskrit; Hindustani is a popular variant of Hindi/Urdu spoken widely throughout northern India but is not an official language
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 61%
male: 73.4%
female: 47.8% (2001 census)

Government India
Country name: conventional long form: Republic of India
conventional short form: India
local long form: Republic of India/Bharatiya Ganarajya
local short form: India/Bharat
Government type: federal republic
Capital: name: New Delhi
geographic coordinates: 28 36 N, 77 12 E
time difference: UTC+5.5 (10.5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Administrative divisions: 28 states and 7 union territories*; Andaman and Nicobar Islands*, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chandigarh*, Chhattisgarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli*, Daman and Diu*, Delhi*, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Lakshadweep*, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Orissa, Puducherry*, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal
Independence: 15 August 1947 (from UK)
National holiday: Republic Day, 26 January (1950)
Constitution: 26 January 1950; amended many times
Legal system: based on English common law; judicial review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; separate personal law codes apply to Muslims, Christians, and Hindus
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch: chief of state: President Pratibha PATIL (since 25 July 2007); Vice President Hamid ANSARI (since 11 August 2007)
head of government: Prime Minister Manmohan SINGH (since 22 May 2004)
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister
elections: president elected by an electoral college consisting of elected members of both houses of Parliament and the legislatures of the states for a five-year term (no term limits); election last held 21 July 2007 (next to be held in July 2012); vice president elected by both houses of Parliament for a five-year term; election last held 12 August 2002 (next to be held August 2007); prime minister chosen by parliamentary members of the majority party following legislative elections; election last held April - May 2004 (next to be held May 2009)
election results: Pratibha PATIL elected president; percent of vote - 65.8%; Bhairon Singh SHEKHAWAT - 34.2%
Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament or Sansad consists of the Council of States or Rajya Sabha (a body consisting of not more than 250 members up to 12 of whom are appointed by the president, the remainder are chosen by the elected members of the state and territorial assemblies; members serve six-year terms) and the People's Assembly or Lok Sabha (545 seats; 543 elected by popular vote, 2 appointed by the president; members serve five-year terms)
elections: People's Assembly - last held 20 April through 10 May 2004 (next must be held before May 2009)
election results: People's Assembly - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - INC 147, BJP 129, CPI (M) 43, SP 38, RJD 23, DMK 16, BSP 15, SS 12, BJD 11, CPI 10, NCP 10, JD (U) 8, SAD 8, PMK 6, JMM 5, LJSP 4, MDMK 4, TDP 4, TRS 4, independent 6, other 29, vacant 13; note - seats by party as of December 2006
Judicial branch: Supreme Court (one chief justice and 25 associate justices are appointed by the president and remain in office until they reach the age of 65 or are removed for "proved misbehavior")
Political parties and leaders: Bahujan Samaj Party or BSP [MAYAWATI]; Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP [Rajnath SINGH]; Biju Janata Dal or BJD [Naveen PATNAIK]; Communist Party of India or CPI [Ardhendu Bhushan BARDHAN]; Communist Party of India-Marxist or CPI-M [Prakash KARAT]; Dravida Munnetra Kazagham or DMK [M. KARUNANIDHI]; Indian National Congress or INC [Sonia GANDHI]; Janata Dal (United) or JD(U) [Sharad YADEV]; Jharkhand Mukti Morcha or JMM [Shibu SOREN]; Lok Jan Shakti Party or LJSP [Ram Vilas PASWAN]; Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam or MDMK [VAIKU]; Nationalist Congress Party or NCP [Sharad PAWAR]; Pattali Makkal Katchi or PMK [S. RAMADOSS]; Rashtriya Janata Dal or RJD [Laloo Prasad YADAV]; Samajwadi Party or SP [Mulayam Singh YADAV]; Shiromani Akali Dal or SAD [Prakash Singh BADAL]; Shiv Sena or SS [Bal THACKERAY]; Telangana Rashtra Samithi or TRS [K. Chandrasekhar RAO]; Telugu Desam Party or TDP [Chandrababu NAIDU]; note - India has dozens of national and regional political parties; only parties with four or more seats in the People's Assembly are listed
Political pressure groups and leaders: numerous religious or militant/chauvinistic organizations, including Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal, and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh; various separatist groups seeking greater communal and/or regional autonomy, including the All Parties Hurriyat Conference in the Kashmir Valley and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland in the Northeast
International organization participation: AfDB, ARF, AsDB, ASEAN (dialogue partner), BIMSTEC, BIS, C, CERN (observer), CP, EAS, FAO, G- 6, G-15, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, MONUC, NAM, OAS (observer), ONUB, OPCW, PCA, PIF (partner), SAARC, SACEP, SCO (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNDOF, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMEE, UNMIS, UNMOVIC, UNOCI, UNOMIG, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Ranendra SEN
chancery: 2107 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008; note - Consular Wing located at 2536 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 939-7000
FAX: [1] (202) 265-4351
consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, New York, San Francisco
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador David C. MULFORD
embassy: Shantipath, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi 110021
mailing address: use embassy street address
telephone: [91] (011) 2419-8000
FAX: [91] (11) 2419-0017
consulate(s) general: Chennai (Madras), Kolkata (Calcutta), Mumbai (Bombay)
Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of saffron (subdued orange) (top), white, and green with a blue chakra (24-spoked wheel) centered in the white band; similar to the flag of Niger, which has a small orange disk centered in the white band

Economy India
Economy - overview: India's diverse economy encompasses traditional village farming, modern agriculture, handicrafts, a wide range of modern industries, and a multitude of services. Services are the major source of economic growth, accounting for more than half of India's output with less than one third of its labor force. About three-fifths of the work force is in agriculture, leading the UPA government to articulate an economic reform program that includes developing basic infrastructure to improve the lives of the rural poor and boost economic performance. The government has reduced controls on foreign trade and investment. Tariffs averaged 12.5% on non-agricultural items in 2006. Higher limits on foreign direct investment were permitted in a few key sectors, such as telecommunications. However, tariff spikes in sensitive categories, including agriculture, and incremental progress on economic reforms still hinder foreign access to India's vast and growing market. Privatization of government-owned industries remained stalled in 2006, and continues to generate political debate; populist pressure from within the UPA government and from its Left Front allies continues to restrain needed initiatives. The economy has posted an average growth rate of more than 7% in the decade since 1996, reducing poverty by about 10 percentage points. India achieved 8.5% GDP growth in 2006, significantly expanding manufacturing. India is capitalizing on its large numbers of well-educated people skilled in the English language to become a major exporter of software services and software workers. Economic expansion has helped New Delhi continue to make progress in reducing its federal fiscal deficit. However, strong growth - more than 8 percent growth in each of the last three years - combined with easy consumer credit and a real estate boom is fueling inflation concerns. The huge and growing population is the fundamental social, economic, and environmental problem.
GDP (purchasing power parity): $4.164 trillion (2006 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate): $805.5 billion (2006 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 9.4% (2006 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP): $3,800 (2006 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 17.5%
industry: 27.9%
services: 54.6% (2005 est.)
Labor force: 506.9 million (2006 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: 60%
industry: 12%
services: 28% (2003)
Unemployment rate: 7.8% (2006 est.)
Population below poverty line: 25% (2002 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 3.6%
highest 10%: 31.1% (2004)
Distribution of family income - Gini index: 36.8 (2004)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 6.2% (2006 est.)
Investment (gross fixed): 29.5% of GDP (2006 est.)
Budget: revenues: $97.16 billion
expenditures: $128.7 billion (2006 est.)
Public debt: 60% of GDP (federal and state debt combined) (2006 est.)
Agriculture - products: rice, wheat, oilseed, cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane, potatoes; cattle, water buffalo, sheep, goats, poultry; fish
Industries: textiles, chemicals, food processing, steel, transportation equipment, cement, mining, petroleum, machinery, software
Industrial production growth rate: 7.5% (2006 est.)
Electricity - production: 661.6 billion kWh (2005)
Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 81.7%
hydro: 14.5%
nuclear: 3.4%
other: 0.3% (2001)
Electricity - consumption: 488.5 billion kWh (2005)
Electricity - exports: 67 million kWh (2005)
Electricity - imports: 1.764 billion kWh (2005)
Oil - production: 785,000 bbl/day (2005 est.)
Oil - consumption: 2.45 million bbl/day (2004 est.)
Oil - exports: 350,000 bbl/day (2005 est.)
Oil - imports: 2.098 million bbl/day (2004 est.)
Oil - proved reserves: 5.6 billion bbl (1 January 2006)
Natural gas - production: 28.68 billion cu m (2005 est.)
Natural gas - consumption: 34.47 billion cu m (2005 est.)
Natural gas - exports: 0 cu m (2005 est.)
Natural gas - imports: 5.793 billion cu m (2005)
Natural gas - proved reserves: 1.056 trillion cu m (1 January 2006 est.)
Current account balance: $-10.36 billion (2006 est.)
Exports: $123.2 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)
Exports - commodities: textile goods, gems and jewelry, engineering goods, chemicals, leather manufactures
Exports - partners: US 17%, UAE 8.3%, China 7.8%, UK 4.3% (2006)
Imports: $184.4 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)
Imports - commodities: crude oil, machinery, gems, fertilizer, chemicals
Imports - partners: China 8.7%, US 6%, Germany 4.6%, Singapore 4.6%, Australia 4% (2006)
Economic aid - recipient: $1.724 billion (2005)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $176.1 billion (2006 est.)
Debt - external: $131.1 billion (2006 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home: $67.72 billion (2006 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad: $21.11 billion (2006 est.)
Market value of publicly traded shares: $818.9 billion (2006)
Currency (code): Indian rupee (INR)
Currency code: INR
Exchange rates: Indian rupees per US dollar - 45.3 (2006), 44.101 (2005), 45.317 (2004), 46.583 (2003), 48.61 (2002)
Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March

Communications India
Telephones - main lines in use: 49.75 million (2005)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 166.1 million (2006)
Telephone system: general assessment: recent deregulation and liberalization of telecommunications laws and policies have prompted rapid growth; local and long distance service provided throughout all regions of the country, with services primarily concentrated in the urban areas; steady improvement is taking place with the recent admission of private and private-public investors, but combined fixed and mobile telephone density remains low at about 20 for each 100 persons nationwide and much lower for persons in rural areas; fastest growth is in cellular service with modest growth in fixed lines
domestic: mobile cellular service (both CDMA and GSM) introduced in 1994 and organized nationwide into four metropolitan areas and 19 telecom circles each with about three private service providers and one state-owned service provider; in recent years significant trunk capacity added in the form of fiber-optic cable and one of the world's largest domestic satellite systems, the Indian National Satellite system (INSAT), with 6 satellites supporting 33,000 very small aperture terminals (VSAT)
international: country code - 91; a number of major international submarine cable systems, including Sea-Me-We-3 with landing sites at Cochin and Mumbai (Bombay), Sea-Me-We-4 with a landing site at Chennai, Fiber-Optic Link Around the Globe (FLAG) with a landing site at Mumbai (Bombay), South Africa - Far East (SAFE) with a landing site at Cochin, the i2i cable network linking to Singapore with landing sites at Mumbai (Bombay) and Chennai (Madras), and Tata Indicom linking Singapore and Chennai (Madras), provide a significant increase in the bandwidth available for both voice and data traffic; satellite earth stations - 8 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) and 1 Inmarsat (Indian Ocean region); 9 gateway exchanges operating from Mumbai (Bombay), New Delhi, Kolkata (Calcutta), Chennai (Madras), Jalandhar, Kanpur, Gandhinagar, Hyderabad, and Ernakulam (2006)
Radio broadcast stations: AM 153, FM 91, shortwave 68 (1998)
Radios: 116 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations: 562 (1997)
Televisions: 63 million (1997)
Internet country code: .in
Internet hosts: 2.306 million (2007)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 43 (2000)
Internet users: 60 million (2005)
Transportation India
Airports: 346 (2007)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 250
over 3,047 m: 18
2,438 to 3,047 m: 52
1,524 to 2,437 m: 75
914 to 1,523 m: 84
under 914 m: 21 (2007)
Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 96
over 3,047 m: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 7
914 to 1,523 m: 40
under 914 m: 47 (2007)
Heliports: 30 (2007)
Pipelines: condensate/gas 8 km; gas 5,184 km; liquid petroleum gas 1,993 km; oil 6,500 km; refined products 6,152 km (2006)
Railways: total: 63,221 km
broad gauge: 46,807 km 1.676-m gauge (17,343 km electrified)
narrow gauge: 13,290 km 1.000-m gauge (165 km electrified); 3,124 km 0.762-m gauge and 0.610-m gauge (2006)
Roadways: total: 3,383,344 km
paved: 1,603,705 km
unpaved: 1,779,639 km (2002)
Waterways: 14,500 km
note: 5,200 km on major rivers and 485 km on canals suitable for mechanized vessels (2006)
Merchant marine: total: 477 ships (1000 GRT or over) 8,350,093 GRT/14,339,440 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 101, cargo 220, chemical tanker 18, combination ore/oil 1, container 9, liquefied gas 19, passenger 3, passenger/cargo 10, petroleum tanker 95, roll on/roll off 1
foreign-owned: 5 (China 1, Hong Kong 1, UAE 2, UK 1)
registered in other countries: 54 (Barbados 1, Comoros 2, Cyprus 1, Dominica 2, North Korea 1, Liberia 2, Malta 3, Mauritius 2, Panama 25, Singapore 9, St Kitts and Nevis 1, St Vincent and The Grenadines 5, unknown 2) (2007)
Ports and terminals: Chennai, Haldia, Jawaharal Nehru, Kandla, Kolkata (Calcutta), Mumbai (Bombay), New Mangalore, Vishakhapatnam
Military India
Military branches: Army, Navy (includes naval air arm), Air Force, Coast Guard, various security or paramilitary forces (includes Border Security Force, Assam Rifles, National Security Guards, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, Special Frontier Force, Central Reserve Police Force, Central Industrial Security Force, Railway Protection Force, and Defense Security Corps)
Military service age and obligation: 16 years of age for voluntary military service (2001)
Manpower available for military service: males age 16-49: 287,551,111
females age 16-49: 268,524,835 (2005 est.)
Manpower fit for military service: males age 16-49: 219,471,999
females age 16-49: 209,917,553 (2005 est.)
Manpower reaching military service age annually: males age 18-49: 11,446,452
females age 16-49: 10,665,877 (2005 est.)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 2.5% (2006)

Transnational Issues India
Disputes - international: since China and India launched a security and foreign policy dialogue in 2005, consolidated discussions related to the dispute over most of their rugged, militarized boundary, regional nuclear proliferation, Indian claims that China transferred missiles to Pakistan, and other matters continue; various talks and confidence-building measures have cautiously begun to defuse tensions over Kashmir, particularly since the October 2005 earthquake in the region; Kashmir nevertheless remains the site of the world's largest and most militarized territorial dispute with portions under the de facto administration of China (Aksai Chin), India (Jammu and Kashmir), and Pakistan (Azad Kashmir and Northern Areas); India and Pakistan have maintained the 2004 cease fire in Kashmir and initiated discussions on defusing the armed stand-off in the Siachen glacier region; Pakistan protests India's fencing the highly militarized Line of Control and construction of the Baglihar Dam on the Chenab River in Jammu and Kashmir, which is part of the larger dispute on water sharing of the Indus River and its tributaries; UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) has maintained a small group of peacekeepers since 1949; India does not recognize Pakistan's ceding historic Kashmir lands to China in 1964; to defuse tensions and prepare for discussions on a maritime boundary, India and Pakistan seek technical resolution of the disputed boundary in Sir Creek estuary at the mouth of the Rann of Kutch in the Arabian Sea; Pakistani maps continue to show its Junagadh claim in Indian Gujarat State; discussions with Bangladesh remain stalled to delimit a small section of river boundary, to exchange territory for 51 Bangladeshi exclaves in India and 111 Indian exclaves in Bangladesh, to allocate divided villages, and to stop illegal cross-border trade, migration, violence, and transit of terrorists through the porous border; Bangladesh protests India's attempts to fence off high-traffic sections of the border; dispute with Bangladesh over New Moore/South Talpatty/Purbasha Island in the Bay of Bengal deters maritime boundary delimitation; India seeks cooperation from Bhutan and Burma to keep Indian Nagaland and Assam separatists from hiding in remote areas along the borders; Joint Border Committee with Nepal continues to examine contested boundary sections, including the 400 square kilometer dispute over the source of the Kalapani River; India maintains a strict border regime to keep out Maoist insurgents and control illegal cross-border activities from Nepal
Refugees and internally displaced persons: refugees (country of origin): 77,200 (Tibet/China), 50,730 (Sri Lanka), 9,700 (Afghanistan)
IDPs: at least 600,000 (about half are Kashmiri Pandits from Jammu and Kashmir) (2006)
Trafficking in persons: current situation: India is a source, destination, and transit country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced or bonded labor and commercial sexual exploitation; the large population of men, women, and children - numbering in the millions - in debt bondage face involuntary servitude in brick kilns, rice mills, and embroidery factories, while some children endure involuntary servitude as domestic servants; internal trafficking of women and girls for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced marriage also occurs; the government estimates that 90 percent of India's sex trafficking is internal; India is also a destination for women and girls from Nepal and Bangladesh trafficked for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation; boys from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh are trafficked through India to the Gulf states for involuntary servitude as child camel jockeys; Indian men and women migrate willingly to the Persian Gulf region for work as domestic servants and low-skilled laborers, but some later find themselves in situations of involuntary servitude including extended working hours, nonpayment of wages, restrictions on their movement by withholding of their passports or confinement to the home, and physical or sexual abuse
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - India has been on the Tier 2 Watch List since 2004 for its failure to show evidence of increasing efforts to address trafficking in persons
Illicit drugs: world's largest producer of licit opium for the pharmaceutical trade, but an undetermined quantity of opium is diverted to illicit international drug markets; transit point for illicit narcotics produced in neighboring countries; illicit producer of methaqualone; vulnerable to narcotics money laundering through the hawala system; licit ketamine and precursor production
reference : www.cia.gov

Failure

2007-03-22T09:18:00.001+05:30

No one ever won a chess game by betting on each move. Sometimes you have to move backward to get a step forward. -- Amar Gopal Bose

Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall. -- Confucius

You don't drown by falling in the water; you drown by staying there. -- Edwin Louis Cole

If there exists no possibility of failure, then victory is meaningless. -- Robert H. Schuller

I am not judged by the number of times I fail, but by the number of times I succeed; and the number of times I succeed is in direct proportion to the number of times I can fail and keep on trying. -- Tom Hopkins

Most people give up just when they're about to achieve success. They quit on the one yard line. They give up at the last minute of the game, one foot from a winning touchdown.-- Ross Perot

If you can't make a mistake, you can't make anything. -- Marva Collins

Because a fellow has failed once or twice, or a dozen times, you don't want to set him down as a failure till he's dead or loses his courage--and that's the same thing.-- George Lorimer

Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. Failure is delay, not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead end.
Failure is something we can avoid only by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing.-- Denis Waitley

Failure is only a temporary change in direction to set you straight for your next success. -- Denis Waitley

When defeat comes, accept it as a signal that your plans are not sound, rebuild those plans, and set sail once more toward your coveted goal. -- Napoleon Hill

Being defeated is often a temporary condition. Giving up is what makes it permanent.-- Marilyn vos Savant

Men succeed when they realize that their failures are the preparation for their victories. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

The wisest person is not the one who has the fewest failures but the one who turns failures to best account.-- Richard R. Grant

History has demonstrated that the most notable winners encountered heart breaking obstacles before they triumphed. They finally won by their defeats. -- B. C. Forbes

Defeat doesn't finish a man--quit does. A man is not finished when he's defeated. He's finished when he quits.--Richard M. Nixon

People in their handlings of affairs often fail when they are about to succeed. If one remains as careful at the end as he was at the beginning, there will be no failure.-- Lao-Tzu

There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.-- Colin Powell

If you are not big enough to lose, you are not big enough to win. -- Walter Reuther

Struggle

2007-03-21T10:46:00.000+05:30

If there is no struggle, there is no progress.

For better or worse, our future will be determined in large part by our dreams and by the struggle to make them real.

Yesterday I dared to struggle. Today I dare to win.

Opportunity follows struggle. It follows effort. It follows hard work. It doesn't come before

The way I see things, the way I see life, I see it as a struggle. And there's a great deal of reward I have gained coming to that understanding -- that existence is a struggle.

The battles that count aren't the ones for gold medals. The struggles within yourself -- the invisible, inevitable battles inside all of us -- that's where it's at.

He who would live must fight, he who will not fight in this world where eternal struggle is the law of life, has not the right to exist.

The important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle.

Struggle is the father of all things. It is not by the principles of humanity that man lives or is able to preserve himself above the animal world, but solely by means of the most brutal struggle.

Struggle is strengthening. Battling with evil gives us the power to battle evil even more.

Unfortunately this earth is not. . . a fairy-land, but a struggle for life, perfectly natural and therefore extremely harsh.

Most people would succeed in small things if they were not troubled with great ambitions

IIT KHARAGPUR:Nehru Museum of Science & Technology

2007-03-03T10:51:00.000+05:30

Nehru Museum of Science & Technology
At the old building of IIT Kharagpur we have the Nehru Museum. A large number of technical models abandoned by various Institutes and organizations in India and abroad have been collected for exhibition in the museum. The museum was started in the Hijli Detention Camp which has been renamed "Hijli Shahid Bhavan" on 16th September, 1997 on the Hijli Martyrs Day to commemorate the martyrdom of two freedom fighters are the Hijli Detention Camp in September 1931.

The Nehru Museum of Science and Technology was established in 1990 with the objective of :
• Providing a historical perspective to the advancement of scientific and technological knowledge in various fields of human endeavor by means of models, experiments, demonstrations, photographs, manuscripts, geological specimens like fossils etc.
• To provide young minds at the school and college level with an opportunity to learn and rediscover scientific principles by performing experiments.
• To bring out literature, books, magazines, etc. for popularizing science and technology amongst the people at large.
• To preserve and present the history technical education in India and specially the history of the IIT system to the general public.
• To collect and preserve the cultural and anthropological records of the people of our neighborhood.
• To organize exhibitions of scientific and technical models and gadgets, creative arts and crafts etc. for the education of the common mass.
The technical models present were abandoned by various Institutes and organizations in India and abroad which have been collected for exhibition in the museum.

Fourteen open air demo experiments have been set up in a park in front of the museum for school children. More than 100 indoor exhibits and several outdoor exhibits like a hunter plane (donated by the IAF), a steam engine (donated by the Indian Railways) are on display. NMS&T organizes exhibitions quite regularly on various themes like "SPLASH" - an exhibition related to water, "GIFT OF WINGS" - on flying in air etc.
A number of books on popular science like "LASERS", "FOOD & FUN", "BRAIN WAVE", "Profiles in wisdom: Science and Indian scientists" have been published by the museum.
An archive room has been set up where documents pertaining to history of IIT Kharagpur and Midnapore district are displayed.
The museum is a financially independent entity. It welcomes donations.
The museum is run by a management committee approved by BOG, IIT Kgp.
The museum is a financially independent entity. We welcome donations in terms of money, active or passive models, gadgets on science and advanced technology, creative art and crafts, scientific and technical material for popularizing science and technology. We welcome any member from the public to join us and be a patron, life member, sustaining member and help us in our endeavor to achieve our goals
SOURCE: IIT KGP website

Jharkhand: Industries

2007-03-03T10:46:00.000+05:30

Major Industries

Heavy Engineering
The Heavy Engineering Corporation (HEC) was commissioned by Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru- India's first prime minister with foreign collaboration. The Heavy Engineering Corporation has three giant manufacturing units:
Foundry Forge Plant (FFP), Heavy Machine Building Plant (HMBP) and Heavy Machine Tools Plant (HMTP). The Heavy Engineering Corporation is established in 1958 at Dhurwa and Hatia region about 10 km from Ranchi town.
The foundry forge plant was set up in collaboration with erstwhile CSSR (M/SSKODA). The plant manufacturers Heavy Castings and Forgings, Rolls for Hot and Cold Rolling Mills for steel plants.
The Heavy Machine Building Plant was set up with assistance from erstwhile USSR. Its main function is to design and manufacture equipments and spares for different sectors.
The Heavy Machine Tools Plant was set up in collaboration with erstwhile CSSR
(M/S SKODA). Its main functions are:
 Design and manufacture CNC and conventional machine tools in medium and heavier ranges.
 Manufacture special purpose Railway machines.
 Takes up reconditioning of old machine tools.
Heavy Engineering Corporation is thus producing capital equipments, machine tools and spare parts needed in core sector industries as: Steel Plants, Ship building etc.

Coal Mining

Jharkhand is the country's richest state in coal reserves. At present Central Coalfields Limited (CCL), a subsidiary of Coal India Limited, with headquarters at Ranchi is engaged in the growth of coal production and development of new coal resources in the state. Central Coal fields ltd. is engaged in coal mining with scientific methods meeting the safety, quality and environmental standards.
Having a production target of 35 million tonnes of coal, it employs 95000 manpower. CCL has 60 collieries under revenue production, 5 coal washeries, Coal handling plants, workshops located in the Ranchi, Giridih, Chatra, Hazaribagh and Palau districts. Still 108 Coal mines in the state are closed, which were in operation before 1971.
Central Mine Planning and Design Institute (CMPDI) located at Kanke road at Ranchi was established in 1974. It is a fully self reliant organization providing engineering and technical consultancy in the area of exploration and geological investigation, mine planning and design for construction and modernization regarding the mining of coal in the state. It also helps in mining electronics and telecommunication planning and all other matters to make coal mining more effective. Its headquarter is at Ranchi.
Indian Institute of Coal Management (IICM) established by Coal India is located at Kanke near Ranchi. It helps to motivate and provide opportunity and formal training to individual and organizations engaged in coal industry or entrepreneurs.
Bharat Cooking Coal Limited - a subsidiary of Coal India is located at Koyla Bhawan, Dhanbad. It helps at mining development of quality of cooking coal in the coalfields of the state.

Tussar Silk

40 percent of country's production of Tussar, a non-mulberry silk comes from Jharkhand State alone. The state is planning to integrate horticulture, sericulture, agriculture and productions of Lac operations under its VISION 2010 plan. This will enable the state to produce 60 percent Tussar silk production. The centre Tussar Research and Training Institute is working well in this direction.
Two main species of trees- Arjuna (Terminatra- Arjuna) and Asan (Terminatia Tementosa) are found in the large spread forest of the state. These trees are the breeding ground for the moth which produces the oval cocoon, with a fine-grained, hard, non-flossy shell. The cocoons are generally yellow or grey and are hard and compact. The cocoons are boiled in chemical solution to soften. The yarn produced is reeled.
The portion of Tussar cocoons leftover after nearly 60% reel able silk is spun into katiya yarn. Ghicha yarn and Balkal yarn is also produced from pierced cocoons. Tussar silk is gaining popularity due to unique texture and color. It is also called 'wild' silk. The silk is naturally of tan, earth and brown colours. Due to its earth colour Tussar has become a hit with the fashion world. The forest department of the state is also planning to encourage the production of Arjuna trees.

Steel Industry

Tata Steel
The Tata Iron & Steel Company Limited (TATA Steel) is one of the best managed steel companies in India. The company was set up in 1907 at Jamshedpur in Jharkhand by the patriot industrialist Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata. The company is one of the lowest cost producer of steel in the world.
Energy efficient technologies, optimum utilisation of raw materials and state-of-the-art equipment have made Tata Steel India's single largest producer of sophisticated steel.
TATA Steel's all steel making facilities are located in Jamshedpur, in the state of Jharkhand. It owns several iron-ore mines, collieries and flux mines located near its plant. TATA Steel manufactures diverse range of products and offer services. The products include forging quality steel, rods, HR/CR coils and sheets, tubes, construction bars, strips and bearings, structurals, ferro alloys and other minerals, steel plant and material handling equipment, software for process control and cargo handling services.
The latest major modernisation initiatives are the reconstruction and capacity enhancement from 0.6 mtpa to 1.0 mtpa of the 43-year old "F" Blast Furnace at less than half the cost of a new blast furnace and the installation of the Submerged Entry Nozzle and Electro Magnetic Stirrer in the Biller caster # 1 of LD # 1.
A Strategic partnership has been forged with Nippon Steel Corporation and Arcelor for knowledge sharing in the Auto sector. Talks are on with Vivendi Water India Ltd. for water management, Gartner have been engaged to evolve a long term Information Technology strategy. An e-governance programme has been initiated with the help of Stern & Stewart. A new JV, TM logistics, has been formed for logistic management and port operations. The first steps in the Ferro Chrome project in South Africa have been initiated.
TATA Steel achieved its highest ever first half (April - September 2002) production by notching 1.8 MT and highest ever first half sales at Rs. 4,034.30 crores. It has also achieved highest ever first half profits after tax at Rs. 269.10 crores; an increase of 462% over last year.
TATA Steel's efforts to brand its products have reaped dividends with the sale of Tata Shaktee (GC Sheets), Tata Tiscon Rebars, Tata Bearings and Tata Pipes, growing by 15% overall. Similarly, sales to the critical Auto segment have achieved a 35% growth and the Company's market share in the Cold Rolled products was buoyant at 29%.
Lower raw material consumption by 8%, lower energy consumption by 3%, higher labour productivity by 6% and lower interest burden by 25% are some of the operational parameters that have contributed to this excellent performance.
The merger of Tata - SSL will further strengthen the Company's financial and market presence.

Bokaro Steel Plant
Bokaro Steel Plant (BSL) is situated in the coal belt and Indian engineering and equipment suppliers have played a major role in its construction - the first indigenous public sector integrated steel.
BSL has a capacity of 4 million TPA of crude steel. The quality of its products are appreciated internationally. The continuous casting facilities have been recently installed and the Hot Strip Mill have been revamped which has provided the state-of-the-art-technology to BSL for manufacturing international quality steel. It’s SMS - I, SMS -II, Continous Casting Shop, Slabbing Mill, Hot Strip Mill, Hot Rolled Coil Finishing & Cold Rolling Mill Complex have ISO: 9002 certification.
The Steel Plant had received ISO-9002 certification for most of its units.
BSL has a value added products like SAILCOR (Corrosion Resistant Steel), API Grade Steel, SAILPROP, SAILMEDS, SAILRIM, HRND, SAILMA, WTCR, BSL-46 for auto sector.
It has a capacity of 4.5 million tonnes of liquid steel & 3.78 million tonnes of saleable steel.
Product Mix Tonnes/Annum
HR Coils, Plates & Sheets 21.20 lac
CR Coils & Sheets 13.90 lac
GP/GC Sheets 1.70 lac
TMBP 1.00 lac
TOTAL SALEABLE STEEL 37.80 lac

The main products of Bokaro Steel Plant are:
 Basic Grade Pig Iron.
 Mild Steel Hot Rolled Sheets in Coils and Plates.
 Concast Mild Steel Slabs.
 Mild Sheet Cold Rolled Sheets in coils.
 Prime Hot Dip Galvanised plane sheets and coils.
 Prime Hot Dip Galvanised corrugated sheets.
 Tin Mill Black Plates.

Usha Beltron Limited
Usha Beltron Limited (UBL) a private Jhawars-owned alloy steel manufacturing unit at Adityapur near Jamshedpur. The unit produces mild/high carbon steel and low alloy steels. These steel are used for making wire rods and wire rope at its wire rope division at Ranchi.
Usha Beltron Limited produces special grades of wire such as stainless steel wires, needle wires and shaped wires for domestic markets and the customers engaged in Automobile production, Construction industry, Power industry, Railway equipments etc. Steel wires find its application in making of Auto Tyres, Springs and industrial fasteners.
Usha Beltron limited is the largest producer of wire ropes in the south and south-east Asia. It is also among the top five manufactures of wire ropes world-wide. The wire ropes are used mainly in Mining, Oil exploration and Extraction, Bridge and other civil construction. Usha Beltron also provides the entire range of end-of-rope products like shackles and pulleys.

Information Technology
The state Government is fully committed to make Jharkhand an IT powerhouse and a front runner in the information revolution. The objective of the State Government is to accelerate the drive for setting up info - infrastructure with - Fiber optic network, satellite communication network and wireless network for seamlessly interconnecting the LII, NLL and the GLL.
The State Governments' aim to create an ambience to target for a $5 billion annual export from Jharkhand IT industry by 2010. It will create a center for excellence like IIIT and regional engineering colleges through private participation. It will also support IT support services in regional languages.
Special Incentives for IT Industry:
 Exemption from environment clearance.
 Exemption from zoning regulations for purposes of location.
 Self - certification on compliance of several Acts.
 0.25 percent rebate in allotted land cost per job created.
 Rebate on registration charges and stamp duty for sale/lease of space for establishing IT infrastructure.
 At least 30 percent employment for Jharkhand residents.
Special Rebate for IT Infrastructure:
 90 percent rebate for facilities established and sale/leased during 2001 - 2003.
 70 percent rebate during 2003 - 2004
 50 percent rebate during 2004 - 2005

Tourism

Chhattisgarh, situated in the heart of India, is endowed with a rich cultural heritage and attractive natural diversity. The State is full of ancient monuments, rare wildlife, exquisitely carved temples, Buddhist sites, palaces, water falls, caves, rock paintings and hill plateaus. Most of these sites are untouched and unexplored and offer a unique and alternate experience to tourists compared to traditional destinations which have become overcrowded. Chhattisgarh offers the tourist a Destination with a Difference. For those who are tired of the crowds at major destinations, Bastar, with its unique cultural and ecological identity, will come as a breath of fresh air. The Green State of Chhattisgarh has 44% of its area under forests, and is one of the richest bio-diversity areas in the country.
The State Governments priority areas to promote tourism are:
 Eco-Tourism Amusement Parks
 Religious Tourism Resorts
 Heritage Tourism way side amenities
 Adventure Tourism
Jharkhand has every attraction for international tourist flow such as - beautiful hill station - Netarhat Wild life Sanctuary as Belta National Park, beautiful Lakes, Waterfalls, Temples, Historical Places and many more. State Government proposes to promote Air Taxi services to provide package tours.

History Of IIT Kharagpur

2007-03-03T10:31:00.000+05:30

Institute History

The history of the IIT system dates back to 1946 when a committee was set up by Hon'ble Sir Jogendra Singh, Member of the Viceroy's Executive Council, Department of Education, Health and Agriculture to consider the setting up of Higher Technical Institutions for post war industrial development in India. The 22 member committee headed by Sri N.R.Sarkar, in its report, recommended the establishment of four Higher Technical Institutions in the Eastern, Western, Northern and Southern regions, possibly on the lines of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA, with a number of secondary institutions affiliated to it. The report also urged the speedy establishment of all the four institutions with the ones in the East and the West to be started immediately. The committee also felt that such institutes would not only produce undergraduates but they should be engaged in research, producing research workers and technical teachers as well. The standard of the graduates should be at par with those from first class institutions abroad. They felt that the proportion of undergraduates and postgraduate students should be 2:1.

With the above recommendations of the Sarkar committee in view, the first Indian Institute of Technology was born in May 1950 in Hijli, Kharagpur, in the eastern part of India.

Initially the IIT started functioning from 5, Esplanade East, Calcutta and very soon shifted to Hijli in Sept. 1950. The present name 'Indian Institute of Technology' was adopted before the formal inauguration of the Institute on August 18, 1951, by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad.

IIT Kharagpur started its journey in the old Hijli Detention Camp where some of our great freedom fighters toiled and sacrificed their lives for the independence of our country.

The history of IIT Kharagpur is thus intimately linked with the history of the Hijli Detention Camp. This is possibly one of the very few Institutions all over the world which started life in a prison house.

Pandit Nehru in his first convocation address in 1956 said "Here in the place of that Hijli Detention Camp stands the fine monument of India, representing India's urges, India’s future in the making. This picture seems to me symbolical of the changes that are coming to India."

About the Detention Camp

The district of Midnapore along with rest of Bengal and India took part in a very significant way in the revolutionary struggle against the British Raj from the early 20th century.

The large number of youth who participated in the armed struggle or the non cooperation movement could not be accommodated in ordinary jails. The then British Government decided to establish a few detention camps - the first one was located in Buxa Fort which was followed by the setting up of the Hijli Detention Camp in 1930. The Hijli Detention Camp bears a very significant mark in our freedom movement. Two unarmed detainees were shot dead here by the British Police on Sept. 16, 1931. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose came to Hijli for collecting the bodies of the two great sons of the freedom movement - Santosh Kumar Mitra and Tarakeswar Sengupta. All the national leaders including Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore voiced their strong protests against the British Raj over this incident.
The Hijli Detention Camp was closed in 1937 and was reopened again in 1940 to detain the freedom fighters without trial. In 1942 the camp was again closed and the detainees were transferred elsewhere.

IIT in it's Infancy

There were 224 fresher and 42 teachers in August 1951 when the first session started. The class rooms, laboratories and the Administrative office were housed in the historic building of the Hijli Detention Camp. The Institute started its academic programme with only ten Departments. On March, 1952, Pandit Nehru laid the foundation stone of the New Building.
The layout of the present campus and the design of our buildings were carried out by a host of engineers and architects under the guidance of an eminent Swiss architect Dr. Werner M. Moser.

A large amount of financial help was available for procuring a number of machine tools from the ministry of industry and supply. The Institute Workshop was supposed to be one of the best in the country.

The Institute was fortunate enough to have Sir J.C.Ghosh, an eminent Scientist as its first Director under whose able stewardship the Institute grew in its formative years. The first Board of Governors was constituted with Dr. B.C. Roy, as the chairman and Mr. N.R.Sarkar, Sir Jehangir J. Gandhi, Dr. Tarachand, Mr. K.R.K. Menon, Mr. T. Sivasankar, Dr. S.S. Bhatnagar, Mr. H. Kabir and Dr. J.C. Ghosh as members. Some eminent scholars from Europe had joined this Institute in its formative years and the first two of them were Prof. R.A. Kraus and Prof.H. Tischner, who was incidentally the first Head of Electronics and ECE Department.

On Sept. 15, 1956, the Parliament of India passed an act known as the Indian Institute of Technology (Kharagpur) Act declaring this Institute as an Institute of national importance. The Institute was also given the status of an autonomous University. From this modest start in 1950, IIT Kharagpur has been engaged in a steady process of development with about 18 academic departments, five centres of excellence. The vast tree-laden campus, spreading over 2100 acres has a self contained township of over 15,000 inhabitants. Currently IIT Kharagpur have about 450 faculty, 2200 employees and 2700 students on the campus.
SOURCE:IIT KGP website

Jharkhand: Mining & Mineral Sector

2007-03-01T12:02:00.000+05:30

MINERAL BASED INDUSTRIES
The availability of abundant mineral resources has led to the setting up of a number of industries in the State which include, inter alia, iron & steel, cement, coke ovens, washeries, refractories, alumina, sponge iron, ceramic, graphite processing, granite cutting and polishing etc.
The State Industrial Policy (SIP) has categorized the mineral based industries as a thrust area. The SIP also lays down the policy instruments, strategy and infrastructural support for establishment of such projects.

COAL
The State of Jharkhand is endowed with 72.2 Billion Tonnes of coal of all categories. This is distributed in 12 Major Coalfields. The maturity of coal varies from meta lignitous coal of low rank to Semi anthracitic coal. Jharkhand is the only State, which is having prime coking coal, which with or without washing can be directly fed to Coke oven for making metallurgical coke. Jharkhand State Mineral Development Corporation Ltd., (JSMDC Ltd.), and four major Companies of Coal India Ltd., viz Central Coalfields Limited, Bharat Coking Coal Ltd., Eastern Coalfields Limited and Central Mine Planning & Design Institute Ltd. are contributing to the production of coal. Other entrepreneurs like Tata Steel, Tenughat Vidyut Nigam Ltd. and Damodar Valley Corporation are also having their captive mines in the State. As is well known, the major resources of coal in the country are with high ash contents. As per the guidelines of MOEF, the coal to be transported beyond 1000 Km has to be washed to 34% ash. The State supplies about 70 MT of coal for Thermal Power Stations located in various parts of the country. There is a vast scope for establishing washeries both for the Coking coal and Non-coking coal in the State. For this, JSMDC is being geared up for entering into a joint venture with private entrepreneur. The washing of the coal is also required for supply of 24-25% ash coal to Sponge Iron Plants, which are being set up on large scale in the State. The State has vast resources of deep-seated coal deposits which are being tapped for Coal Bed Methane. The future lies in the underground gasification of coals which are difficult to reach physically. The technologies like coal liquefaction are also on anvil and there is a scope to develop it.

IRON & STEEL
Iron Ore: The state is endowed with deposits of Iron Ores of both, Hematite & Magnetite. The Hematite deposits are mainly located in the West Singhbhum District and have a resource base exceeding 3700 Million Tonnes. These have been explored only in pockets by large industry houses in their lease hold. There is a very good scope of enlarging this resource base by further exploration. The Magnetite Deposits are located in the East Singhbhum, Latehar & Palamu districts. They comprise lenticular ore bodies as well as Schist rocks with 80 to 36% magnetic. The exploration of these bodies is yet to be taken up. The existing steel mills are sourcing their iron ore (Hematite) from West Singhbhum. The Magnetite ore is being used in heavy media coal washeries & paints.

ALUMINA & ALUMINIUM
Jharkhand holds a very large potential of bauxite amounting to a reserve of 68.1 MT. Though most of the mined bauxite is targeted for metallurgical purposes for the extraction of metal aluminium, it has variety of uses in other industries, such as, abrasive, alloy-steel, aluminium, cement, ceramic, chemical, ferro-alloys, iron and steel, petroleum refining, refractory and vanaspati products, creating opportunities for various industries in small, medium and large scale.

LIMESTONE
Limestone mining in India takes its place next to coal mining. It is mainly utilized for the manufacture of cement. Next to cement industry, its potential consumers are the chemical and Iron & Steel industries. Total reserve of Limestone in Jharkhand is 511.104 MT. The deposits occur in Hazaribagh, Singhbhum, Pakur, Garhwa, Ranchi, Giridih and Bokaro districts. Production of Limestone during 2001-02 in Jharkhand was 2.13 million tonnes.

GEM STONE
There is good scope for setting up a number of gem based industries in the State.

MINOR MINERALS
There is scope for value addition activities in respect of minor minerals, such as stone crushing, brick making, etc. in SSI sector.

STATUS OF OTHER MINERALS IN STATE THAT CREATE SEVERAL OPPORTUNITIES
Barytes
Barytes occurs in the shape of narrow veins and lenticular patches in Singhbhum and Ranchi Districts. It also occurs as thin veinlets in Palamau district within silicified shale of Lower Vindhyans. Jharkhand has a total known resources of 15 thousand tonnes of Barytes. Barytes production In Jharkhand is only 0.2% of total production in India. So, there is ample potentiality of small scale mining in Jharkhand.

Clay
a. China clay: Jharkhand is an important china clay producer in India and it has great potential with total reserve of 45.335 MT.
b. Fire clay: Fireclay beds are associated with coal seams in Gondwana rocks of Chhotanagpur terrain. The fireclays of Jharia coalfield are of good refractory quality. Fireclay is also reported from Dhanbad, Dumka, Giridih, Hazaribagh, Palamu, Singhbhum and Ranchi districts. Total reserve of fireclay in Jharkhand is 03.45 MT.
Felspar
Felspar occurs as abundant mineral in pegmetites of Bihar-Jharkhand mica belt. Total reserve of feldspar in Jharkhand is 2.19 MT. The major feldspar reserves in Jharkhand are Hazaribagh, Palamau, Kodarma, Deoghar, Giridih and Dhanbad districts. Production of Felspar can be boosted through small-scale mining and industries developed locally.
Garnet
Occurrences of major massive garnet (granitite) rock at isolated localities in Chhotanagpur granite gneiss terrain were earlier reported. Massive garnet rock occurs in concentrated clusters at several places to the east of Hazaribagh. Total reserve of garnet in Jharkhand is 72 thousand tonnes and entirely confined in Hazaribagh district.
Graphite
Graphite, is a soft crystalline form of naturally occurring carbon. Occurrences of Graphite in Jharkhand are entirely confined to Palamu, Garhwa & Latehar district. Its grade few places interms of fixed carbon varies from 20% to 75%. In most of the occurrences, it occurs as dissemination in graphite schist and its content in the rock varies from 15% to 30%. Jharkhand has a reserve of 6.39 MT of graphite ore.
Kyanite
Kyanite occurs in Jharkhand in East Singhbhum and Kharsawan- Saraikela districts and its reserve in this region is 0.90 MT. It occurs either in massive form or as Quartz-Kyanite rock.
Dolomite
The reserve of Dolomite in Jharkhand has been estimated at 29.86 MT. This deposit is confined in Garhwa and Palamau districts.
Mica
Kodarma Mica Belt is the biggest mica track in the country and occupies about 145.74 Sq.Km of area and lies nearly north of Kodarma Railway Station. The major area of mica deposits is in Kodarma, Giridih and Hazaribagh districts. The production during the year 1999-2000 was 267 tonnes of mica crude and 222 tonnes of mica waste & scrape.
Quartz and Silica Sand
Jharkhand has got a reserve of 0.96 MT of quartz and silica sand. It occurs in Dhanbad, Ranchi, Deoghar, Palamau, Dumka, Giridih, Kodarma and Hazaribagh districts.
Quartzite
The entire quartzite deposit is confined in East Singhbhum, West Singhbhum (Chaibasa) and Seraikella-Kharsawan districts. Total reserve of quartzite is 37.22 MT. Total production of quartzite during the year 1999-2000 was 11,725 tonnes which is 18.72% of total quartzite production in India.

Jharkhand: Minerals

2007-03-01T11:51:00.000+05:30

· Jharkhand has large deposits of minerals.
· 40% of the total minerals of the country are available in the state.
· The state is the sole producer of cooking coal, Uranium and Pyrite.
· It ranks first in the production of coal, mica, Kyanite and copper in India.
· The geological exploration and exploitation of gold, silver, base metals precious stones etc. are the potential areas of futures.

Mineral Reserves - Quantum, Location & Uses
Minerals Quantum('000t) Location/ Uses

Apatite 3070 Singhbhum/ Mineral Fertilizers,Gem stones

Asbestos 40 Roroburu, Singhbhum/ Pipes, Sheets,Gloves, Ropes

Barytes 15 Singhbhum/ Hydrated Alumina

Bauxite 68135 Palamu,Ranchi,Gumla,Lohardaga/Alum,Aluminium,
Refractory industry,Imery

China clay 45930 Lohardaga,Ranchi,Dumka,sahibganj,Singhbhum/
Crockery,glass

Chromite 334 Singhbhum/ Chrome magnesite refractory

Coal 6208485 Jharia,Bokaro,Karanpura,Hutur,Auranga,
Daltonganj,Deoghar,Rajmahal Coal Fields

Cobalt(m.t) 9.00 Singhbhum/ Extraction of Cobalt Oxide

Copper Ore 108690 Singhbhum,Giridih/ Copper

Dolomite 29864 Palamu,Garhwa/ Cements,Magnesia,Building Stone

Felspar 5152 Dumka,Hazaribagh,Deoghar/Crockery Wares,
Glazed Tiles,Refractories

Fireclay 50462 Dhanbad,Hazaribagh,Palamu,Bokaro,Giridh,Ramgarh/ Firebricks,Stoneware crockeries

Garnet 72 Hazaribagh/ Beads,as gemstone

Gold Ore 7.20 Ranchi,Singhbhum/ Gold

Granite('000cm.m) 19105 Dumka,Godda,Deoghar,Ranchi,DAltonganj/ Granite Tiles

Graphite 389678 Palamu/ Graphite powder,pencils,crucibles

Iron Ore 308326 Singhbhum,Palamu/ Iron

Kyanite 90 Singhbhum/ High Alumina Refractories

Limestone 964917 Hazaribag,Santhal Pragana,Palamu,Singhbhum,Ranchi/ Lime,Fertilizer,Cement

Manganese Ore 2363 Singhbhum/ Manganese

Mica 13554 Koderma,Giridh,Hazaribagh/ InsulationBricks,Mica Powder

Nickel Ore 9.00 Singhbhum/ Nickel

Quartz(silica sand) 136429 Singhbhum,Dumka,Hazaribag,Deogarh,Palamu,Sahidganj/ Glass,Crokery Ware,Glaze,Acid Resistant Bricks and Tiles

Quarzite 219842 Singhbhum/ Same and Gemstone
Talc/ Stealite/Soapstone 289 Singhbhum,Giridh/ Talcom Powder,Wall Tile,Electrical Insulators,Cookware

Vermiculate(t) 15024 Singhbhum/ Insulation Brick

History of Google

2007-03-01T11:42:00.001+05:30

Google began as a research project in January 1996 by Larry Page, a Ph.D. student at Stanford. Larry was soon joined in his research project by Sergey Brin a fellow Stanford Ph.D. student and close friend. Larry Page hypothesized that a search engine that analyzed the relationships between websites would produce better results than existing techniques (existing search engines at the time essentially ranked results according to how many times the search term appeared on a page). It was originally nicknamed, "BackRub", because the system checked backlinks to estimate a site's importance. A small search engine called RankDex was already exploring a similar strategy.
Convinced that the pages with the most links to them from other highly relevant Web pages must be the most relevant pages associated with the search, Page and Brin tested their thesis as part of their studies, and laid the foundation for their search engine. Originally the search engine used the Stanford website with the domain google.stanford.edu. The domain google.com was registered on September 15, 1997. They formally incorporated their company, Google Inc., on September 7, 1998 at a friend's garage in Menlo Park, California.
In March 1999, the company moved into offices at 165 University Avenue in Palo Alto, home to several other noted Silicon Valley technology startups. After quickly outgrowing two other sites, the company leased a complex of buildings in Mountain View at 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway from Silicon Graphics (SGI) in 1999. The company has remained at this location ever since, and the complex has since become known as the Googleplex (a play on the word googolplex, a 1 followed by a googol of zeros). In 2006, Google bought the property from SGI for $319 million.
The Google search engine attracted a loyal following among the growing number of Internet users, who liked its simple design. In 2000, Google began selling advertisements associated with search keywords. The ads were text-based to maintain an uncluttered page design and to maximize page loading speed. Keywords were sold based on a combination of price bid and clickthroughs, with bidding starting at $.05 per click.[9] This model of selling keyword advertising was pioneered by Goto.com (later renamed Overture Services, before being acquired by Yahoo! and rebranded as Yahoo! Search Marketing).While many of its dot-com rivals failed in the new Internet marketplace, Google quietly rose in stature while generating revenue.
A patent describing part of Google's ranking mechanism (PageRank) was granted on September 4, 2001. The patent was officially assigned to Stanford University and lists Lawrence Page as the inventor.

Jharkhand : Formation of 28th State of India

2007-02-28T17:48:00.000+05:30

The Year 2000 August 2 - The bill to create a separate state of Jharkhand to be carved out of Bihar was passed in Lok Sabha by voice with two key allies of ruling NDA strongly opposing the measure and the opposition Rashtriya Janta Dal and the CPI - M demanding it to be referred to a parliamentary committee. The long cherished demand of people of the region was fulfilled, the celebration is on through out the Jharkhand region.

August 11 - Parliament today approved the formation of Jharkhand when the Rajya Sabha passed by voice - vote the Bihar reorganisation bill 2000 to carve out the new state out of Bihar's northern region.

August - 25 - President Mr. K.R. Narayanan approved the Bihar reorganisation bill 2000.
October - 12 - The center has issued the gazette notification starting November 15 to be the appointed date for the formation of new Jharkhand Government.

Jharkhand : A Profile

2007-02-28T17:34:00.000+05:30

State Overview
The 28th state of the Indian Union was brought into existence by the Bihar reorganization Act on November 15, 2000 - the birth anniversary of the legendary Bhagwan Birsa Munda. Its area is 2.43% of the country and population is 2.62% of country. The state is very rich in natural resources like forest, animals (domestic),
and minerals etc. Total tribal population is 60.90 lacs. 111 blocks out of total 211 blocks are in the 5 th schedule of Indian constitution.
Population:
38.1 % of the population belongs to SC and ST. Total population of the Schedule caste is 3189320 (11.8%) and Schedule Tribe population is 26.3%.
Overall sex ratio is 941.Urban sex ratio is 870 and rural is 962.
Population density in the state is 338 persons / square kilometres
Overall Literacy rate is 53.6.
Male literacy rate is 67.3 % whereas female literacy rate is 38.9 %.
There is gender gap in literacy is 28.4%.
Infrastructure:
Road density (per 1000 kms) in the state is less then national average of 16.12 kms. 8184 villages have linked through roads 3935 (approximately 13 %) villages are linked through fair weather roads.
Total power generation capacity is 1390 megawatt. Per capita power consumption in the state and per capita generation are approx half of the national average. Only 15. 5 % villages are electrified so far.
Total investment in small-scale units (SSI) is 441.43 Cr. SSI are providing employment to 2003344 persons. There is investment of 11578.62 cr. in medium & large-scale industrial unite which is providing 73845 persons.
Natural resource:
State has 29.61% area under forest. Out of which 4387.2 sq kms is reserved, 19184.78sq kms protected and 33.49 unclassified.
State contributes to substantially in the mineral production of the country. The coal production is 32.09%, Iron ore 31.84%,Copper ore 25.94%, Pyrite 90.98%, Graphite 57.47 and kainite 8.33%.
Jharkhand at a Glance
Number of districts - 22
Number of divisions - 4
Number of Sub-divisions - 33
Number of community development Blocks - 211
Number of town - 152
Number of Revenue villages - 32,651
Villages as per census - Area (Sq. Kms) - 79,714
% of urban population - 22%
Population - Total - 2, 69,09,428
Population – Male - 1, 38,61,277
Population – Female - 1, 30,48,151
Decadal population growth rate (1991-01) - 23.2%
Population density - 338
Sex ratio - 941
Literacy rate -54.1%

Freedom Fighters Of Jharkhand

2007-02-27T17:11:00.000+05:30

TILKA MANJHI:
Tilka Manjhi was born in a Santhal family in 1750.He was perhaps the first leader who tried to rally the Santhals behind him and organize an upsurge against the British. He began to organize the people at Bancharijor near Bhagalpur against the taxation and local administration of the British. Cleveland arranged a major military campaign against him but he could not succed.Tilka killed Cleveland on 13th January 1784 and in retaliation the British government launched an offensive campaign against him. He carried on guerilla warfare but was soon caught and executed by the British.Tilka emerged as the first capable tribal leader who fought against the British rule.

BUDDHU BHAGAT:
Buddhu Bhagat was born in Silagai village of Chanho Block on 17th Feb 1792.He belonged to the Oraon tribe. The villagers believed that Buddhu had divine qualities and he was capable of ousting the British. He carried on guerilla warfare against the British with the aid of his followers. He was killed on 14th Feb. 1832 along with hundreds of his followers.

GANGA NARAIN SINGH:
He was the first tribal leader who exploited the frustration and anger of the Bhumij tribes against the British. Ganga Narain Singh belonged to the Zamindar family of Barabhum. He and his followers gave a strong resistance to the British rule in Midnapore and adjoining areas. He was killed on 7th Feb 1833 .

SIDDHU AND KANHU:
Siddhu and Kanhu were great warriors of Santhal Pargana. They carried forward the tribal struggle against the British. They were four brothers-Siddhu, Kanhu, Chand and Bhairon. The four brother waged struggle against the British oppression, exploitation, corruption and ignorance. The santhals were affected from the introduction of permanent settlement in their areas. Both the brothers adopted peaceful and constitutional means before commencing the revolt. The revolt started on the 7th July 1855 and it spread from Bhagnadih to Pyalpur, Maheshpur, Madhupur and Khudipur. On 10th July 1855, Siddhu and Kanhu defeated a British contingent of forces, which was sent to crush their revolt. Later Chand and Bhairon died fighting with the British. Siddhu and Kanhu are arrested due to treachery of their supporters. On 26th July 1856, the British government executed them.

THAKUR VISHWANATH SAHDEO:
Thakur Vishwanath Sahdeo was born at Satranji on 12th August 1817.In 1840, his father died and he took over the Jagirdari of Barkagargh. In 1855, he revolted against the British rule and declared himself independent. The Doranda contingent of forces of the Ramgarh battalion was asked to take retaliatory action against Thakur Sahdeo but the latter defeated the British forces. The freedom movements of 1857 become very aggressive in Chotanagpur. Meanwhile Thakur Sahdeo allied with Ganpat Rai who was the former Diwan of Chotanagpur and continues the struggle. At last the British government applied the Policy of “Divide and Rule” and succeeded in winning over many supporters of Thakur Sahdeo.He was caught on 30th March 1858 due to some of his treacherous friends. He was hanged on the gate of Zila School ,Ranchi.

SHEIKH BHIKHARI:
He became the Diwan of Tikait Umraon Singh who was the ruler of Khatana. The freedom movement of Chotanagpur broke out on 31st July 1857 in Chutupalu hills, which formed a part of the Zamindari of Tikait Umraon Singh. The sepoy mutiny of Ramgarh was led by Madho Singh and Nadir Ali Khan.Tikait Umraon and Sheikh Bhikhari supported them. Sheikh Bhikhari got in touch with some of the Santhal rebels in Hazaribagh and motivatred them to fight against the British. Sheikh Bhikhari was captured on 6th Jan 1858 and later hanged on 8th Jan 1858.

NILAMBER-PITAMBER BROTHERS:
Nilamber and Pitamber were freedom fighter of Palamu. Both prepared a strong organization of the Bhogtas and the Kharwars.They secured the support of the Jagirdar of Chero. Col. Dolton succeeded in arresting them and they were hanged.

JATRA BHAGAT:
Jatra Bhagat, of Gumla, brought agrarian issues to the fore and launched a no rent campaign. He was arrested in 1916.

BIRSA MUNDA:
Birsa Munda was born on 15th Nov 1875 in Ulihatu Village of Arki Block under Khunti Subdivision. During his stay at Chaibasa from 1886 to 1890, he studied at a Christian school for three years. He claimed to be “the father of the Earth” (Dharti Aba) and a messenger of God. Later Birsha claimed himself to be god and declared that God had threatened with death all those who did not believe him. His followers started looking upon him as the “Incarnation of God”. He also laid down a strict code of conduct prohibiting theft, lying, begging and murder. The people regarded him as their “Sing Bonga” or Sun God, the good sprit that watches over them. He was looked upon as incarnation of “Khasra Kora” who had destroyed the Ashurs.The followers under Birsa’s umbrella decided that in order to establish the Munda Raj under Birsa, they should drive out or slay all the foreigners. They also resolved that no rent was paid and all land was to be held rent-free. Birsa was arrested in Chalkhed.he faced trial in Khunti court but was convicted to two years rigorous imprisonment. Later Birsa was released from jail on 30th Nov 1897. The movement entered into next phase in Oct-Nov 1899.He now advocated violent and turbulent method to achieve the ouster of the British. A large majority of Christan Mundas joined the movement. The growing incidents of arson and violence alarmed the British. They started preparations to retaliate and arrest him. At last Birsa was arrested on 3rd Feb 1900. Later he died of cholera in the prison of Ranchi.

e-Choupal

2007-02-26T12:39:00.000+05:30

‘e-Choupal’ has unshackles the potential of Indian farmer who has been trapped in a vicious cycle of low risk taking ability > low investment > low productivity > weak market orientation > low value addition > low margin > low risk taking ability. This made him and Indian agribusiness sector globally uncompetitive, despite rich & abundant natural resources.

Such a market-led business model can enhance the competitiveness of Indian agriculture and trigger a virtuous cycle of higher productivity, higher incomes, and enlarged capacity for farmer risk management, larger investments and higher quality and productivity.

e-Choupal’ makes use of the physical transmission capabilities of current intermediaries – aggregation, logistics, counter-party risk and bridge financing –while disintermediating them from the chain of information flow and market signals.
With a judicious blend of click & mortar capabilities, village internet kiosks managed by farmers – called sanchalaks – themselves, enable the agricultural community access ready information in their local language on the weather & market prices, disseminate knowledge on scientific farm practices & risk management, facilitate the sale of farm inputs (now with embedded knowledge) and purchase farm produce from the farmers’ doorsteps (decision making is now information-based).
Real-time information and customized knowledge provided by ‘e-Choupal’ enhance the ability of farmers to take decisions and align their farm output with market demand and secure quality & productivity. The aggregation of the demand for farm inputs from individual farmers gives them access to high quality inputs from established and reputed manufacturers at fair prices. As a direct marketing channel, virtually linked to the ‘mandi’ system for price discovery, ‘e-Choupal’ eliminates wasteful intermediation and multiple handling. Thereby it significantly reduces transaction costs.

Launched in June 2000, 'e-Choupal', has already become the largest initiative among all Internet-based interventions in rural India.'e-Choupal' services today reach out to more than 3.5 million farmers growing a range of crops - soyabean, coffee, wheat, rice, pulses, shrimp - in over 38,000 villages through nearly 6500 kiosks across nine states (Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Uttaranchal, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Kerela

This enthusiastic response from farmers has encouraged ITC to plan for the extension of the ‘e-Choupal’ initiative to altogether 15 states across India over the next few years. On the anvil are plans to channelise other services related to micro-credit, health and education through the same 'e-Choupal' infrastructure

ITC's e-Choupal has won numerous awards:
The Stockholm Challenge 2006. This award is for using information technology for the economic development of rural communities.
Innovation for India Award 2006 for ITC e-Choupal in the Social Innovations category for business organizations. The first of its kind in India, based on parameters of number of lives impacted, degree of impact on organization and environment, uniqueness, leverage of resources and whether it was scalable and sustainable, e-Choupal was declared as one of ‘India’s Best Innovations’.
The Development Gateway Award 2005 (previously known as the Petersberg Prize) for the trailblazing e-Choupal initiative. ITC is the first Indian company and the second in the world to win this prestigious award.
The 'Golden Peacock Global Award for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Emerging Economies for 2005'. The Company received this award for its e-Choupal and social and farm forestry initiatives that are impactfully transforming lives and landscapes in rural India.
The Corporate Social Responsibility Award 2004 from The Energy and Resources Institute(TERI) for its e-Choupal initiative. The Award provides impetus to sustainable development and encourages ongoing social responsibility processes within the corporate sector.
The inaugural 'World Business Award', instituted jointly by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the HRH Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). This award recognises companies who have made significant efforts to create sustainable livelihood opportunities and enduring wealth in developing countries.
The ‘Enterprise Business Transformation Award’ for Asia Pacific (Apac), instituted by Infosys Technologies and Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
PC Quest’s IT Implementation Award in the ‘Best Project’ category.
The Golden Peacock Innovation Award 2004.
The NASSCOM award for 'Best IT User in FMCG' in 2003. The Award is a recognition of ITC's successful integration of its IT usage with its business processes.
The Seagate Intelligent Enterprise of the Year 2003 Award, for the most innovative usage of Information Technology.

Nehru And Kashmir Issue

2007-02-26T09:38:00.000+05:30

Although Sardar Patel was the Home minister and responsible for the integration of the Indian states, it was Pandit Nehru who took over the Kashmir issue as Minister for External Affairs. The handling of the Kashmir issue by Nehru rather than by Patel was one of the factors that created the impression that India herself regarded the Kashmir dispute as an international issue.

Nehru’s attempt to combine idealism and realism was apparent from the beginning in his handling of the Kashmir issue.

When the Maharaja of Kashmir, backed by Sheikh Abdullah, who was the President of the Kashmir National Conference and the undisputed leader of the Kashmir Muslims at the time, offered the unconditional accession of the State to India, it was mainly due to Nehru’s idealism the accession was made conditional by India unilaterally.
It was Nehru and not Mountbatten who insisted that the Governor-General’s letter to the Maharaja must state categorically that the accession was contingent on the wishes of the people of Kashmir. It is this conditional character of the accession that Pakistan has always emphasized with telling effect at the United Nations and elsewhere, and which has been the main weakness in India’s claim on Kashmir.
India’s reference of the Kashmir issue to the UN under Chapter VI of the Charter, which deals with the pacific settlement of the internal disputes through negotiation, mediation, conciliation, etc. rather the under Chapter VII which deals with the enforcement action, and her subsequent criticism of the UN, verging on denunciation, for the latter’s inability to compel Pakistan to withdraw from so-called Azad Kashmir, were self-contradictory.

If India regarded Kashmir as incontestably Indian Territory after the accession and the Pakistani action in Kashmir as aggression on India, She should have either defended herself without going to the UN or made a reference to the UN under Chapter VII of the Charter. Alternatively, if India thought that Kashmir was Indian Territory, but what Pakistan had done in Kashmir constituted a violation of international law short of aggression on India, a reference should have been made to the International Court of Justice rather then the Security Council. Only if India believed that Kashmir was an international dispute of a political nature which had to be resolved peacefully through international mediation over an indefinitely long period on time ,was there any case for going to the UN under Article 35 of the Charter. It is obvious that India’s case was based on the first contention, and yet the reference was made to the UN under Article 35; and when the UN predictably failed to put an end to the “aggression on Indian territory” by Pakistan, Nehru was apparently shocked.

Immediately after the US-Pakistan military agreement of 1954, Nehru declared that there had taken place a material change in situation and that India’s commitment regarding a plebiscite was no longer valid. By this sudden and controversial stroke of realism Nehru created serious misgivings in world public opinion regarding his earlier idealism. Paradoxically, it was Pakistan that afterwards brought the Kashmir issue periodically before the Security Council and it was India that was on the defensive mode.

Indian railways:Turnaround

2007-02-22T18:17:00.000+05:30

“….Indian Railways has staged a dramatic turnaround with the same employees and assets. The turnaround strategy has been based on simple principles. Have higher freight volumes. Improve occupancy in passenger trains. Control costs. And most importantly reduce tarrifs.Through this, railways have improved their market share and operating margins…. Our government has been praised for improving customer services and reducing passenger’s fares, particularly for poorer sections of society. Railways reforms have been introduced without losing sight of our social obligation. this is what we call ‘inclusive growth’.”
-Hon’ble Prime Minister in his speech delivered at Ludhiana on 27-09-06
The Indian railways constitute a critical component of India’s transport network, both for passenger as well as freight services. Railways are cost effective and also environment friendly.Yet, capacity and efficiency constraints in freight segment have, over the years, led to significant shift from railways to road transport. A renewed focus of the railways ministry on efficency, customer care and commercial principles is aimed at reversing this trend. The recent turnaround in Railways operations suggests that Indian Railways are poised for rapid growth in capacity expansion.

The carefully crafted strategy of reform has been built around generation of capacity through optimization of the existing infrastructure and assets and differentiated approach to the social and commercial segments of the traffic. On the supply side, increase in axle load from 20.3 to 22.9 tonnes, reduction in turnaround time from 7 days to 5 days has generated the necessary incremental freight-loading capacity. Similarly, augmentation of popular passenger trains by using the spare stocks of coaches and mopping up of the slack available has led to increase carrying capacity per train. These operational innovations have also led to lowering of unit cost of operation in the face of rising cost of inputs. This advantage has been capitalized on the demand side by a dynamic and market-driven tariff policy linked to seasonality and price elasticity of demand. The strategy of across-the-board increase in freight rates has been replaced by selective changes in the tariff in response to market forces. The railways have earned a record surplus of Rs. 13612 crores in year 2005-06 and are headed for a surplus of Rs. 20000 crores in the year 2006-07.

By 2012, the railways are likely to handle double the traffic volumes currently handled. Indian railways have chalked out a well-planned strategy to remove bottlenecks and augment capacity to match the requirement. The key elements of the strategy would entail investment in infrastructure as well as modernization of wagons technology, advanced signaling and telecommunication, induction of high horsepower locomotives, grade separation and use of information technology specifically tailored to improve transit times and lower unit cost operation. It would also include building world –class passenger and freight terminals bench-marked to the best global standards.