India poised to test-launch first ICBM
Washington,Friday, May 04, 2001: India is preparing to test-launch its first Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM), the Surya or Agni IV, a report has said.
The first test, expected in January next year, will cover 5,000 km while a follow-on version, Surya II, will be tested in 2003 with a range of 12,000 km, the 'Defense News' said quoting a research scientist of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
Surya II's range will eventually be extended to 20,000 km, the unnamed scientist said.
Surya is based on a combination of liquid and solid-propulsion technology, and is a variant of India's Agni missiles which have a range of over 2,000 km.
Surya's test-bed will be a single-stage liquid-fuel rocket based on cryogenic engine technology. The Cryogenic Upper Stage Project is slated for completion by the end of 2002, it said.
Russia has a deal with India to supply seven cryrogenic engines from 1998 to 2002. The first engine was received in December 1998 for a satellite booster. One of the next cryogenic engine deliveries will be for Surya, another DRDO source told the weekly.
The Surya missile project was begun in 1994, using cryogenic technology developed at the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre Laboratories in Thiruvananthapuram and guidance technologies from the geo-stationary launch vehicle effort, the report said.
It added that the Agni I and II missiles were ready for operation and had been ordered for serial production.
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7th day of strike; alternative arrangements for Thalassaemics
New Delhi,Friday, May 04, 2001: The Red Cross Blood Bank has began making alternative arrangements to provide blood to Thalassaemics even as the staffers' strike entered seventh day today with the strikers showing no signs of relenting.
"We have asked the patients, registered for transfusion in Sir Ganga Ram Hospital and Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, to go to these hospitals for blood," Dr Vimla Ramalingam, Secretary General of Indian Red Cross Society, told PTI.
Other hospitals with blood banks were also being contacted to help the patients for transfusions, she said.
Patients in immediate need of blood were issued 'whole blood', instead of processed red blood cells by the blood bank. The whole blood has to be processed into RBCs before transfusion, and only a few hospitals have this facility.
Dr S K Chaudhry, Director of Red Cross Blood Bank, said this was done due to shortage of fresh blood and transfusion of RBCs extracted from stored blood would at least save patients' life.
Due to summer, there were a few donors in the camps, leading to shortage of fresh blood from which RBCs are made for thalassaemics, he said urging people to donate blood.
Shobha Tuli, secretary of NGO Thalassaemics India, said "Summer and ongoing strike has worsened the situation. I hope private hospitals with blood banks would come forward and help thalassaemics."
Meanwhile, the staff has threatened to go on a mass casual leave on May 8, which happens to be World Red Cross Day and also International Thalassaemia Day.
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Indian banks appeal to govt to help end Enron row
Indian lenders to U.S. energy group Enron Corp's gas-fired power plant south of Bombay have appealed to the Indian government to help end the company's row with a state-owned electricity board over pricing and unpaid bills.
The board of Enron's Indian unit, Dabhol Power Co (DPC) has authorised management to stop selling power to the Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB) if a bitter dispute over pricing and unpaid bills cannot be resolved.
In the past half year the MSEB has defaulted on bills for electricity supplied by Dabhol, which operates the world's largest gas-fired plant on the west coast of India, 160 kilometres (100 miles) south of Bombay.
Indian financial institutions, which contributed $1.4 billion towards the project in loans, are pressing the government to help end the crisis, a source told Reuters.
"We have asked the government for help. We are awaiting their reply," the source, who is employed with a large financial institution, said.
The domestic lenders to the project are Industrial Development Bank of India , ICICI Ltd , Industrial Finance Corporation of India , Canara Bank and State Bank of India .
The Dabhol Power Company (DPC), owned 65 percent by Enron, last month took the major step of bailing out of the $2.9 billion power project, citing non-payment of bills by the Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB).
The DPC board's move sparked widespread fears that India's image as a safe destination for foreign direct investment would be damaged.
MSEB, which is a state-owned utility, has been a regular defaulter on payments to DPC saying that it finds the power too costly. It has also backed out on its commitment to buy more power to be produced by the project's second phase which is to begin operations later this year.
Last month MSEB said it had paid Dabhol Power 1.34 billion rupees ($28.60 million) for electricity it bought in March.
But the payment only partially resolves the total overdue amount of 2.26 billion rupees ($48.2 million), which Enron has been unable to collect even after invoking guarantees issued by the government of Maharashtra, India's most industrialised state, and the federal government.
The state utility still owes Enron payments for power purchases in December and January.
The Indian government has maintained that the contract must be renegotiated and has set up a committee to do so.
"We are concerned and would like the renegotiations to happen fast," the source added.
The dispute has raised fears that Enron could pull the plug on the project, cease providing power to the local state electricity board and perhaps even sell the plant.
"The plant is good, Maharashtra needs power and I am sure buyers can be found," the source added.
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India elected to NCB, UNAID
United Nations,Friday, May 04, 2001: India has been elected to the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) and Coordination Board of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS.
Pakistan, a nominee of the World Health Organisation for INCB, suffered a defeat.
India has been made member of the prestigious bodies even though it is not a member of the 54-strong United Nations Economic and Social Council which elects the two bodies.
India, along with seven other countries, was elected as Programme Coordinators to the UN AIDS programme uncontested.
The election to INCB are fought by individual candidates nominated by the governments and Madan Mohan Bhatnagar was the successful Indian candidate.
The first round of secret ballot saw the victory of Austrian Rainer Wolfgang Schmid and Robert Lousberg of the Netherlands. In the second round Jacques Franquet of France and Rosa Masriadel Castillo of Peru were elected.
Bhatnagar was elected in the third round defeating Germany's nominee.
Among the candidates nominated by the World Health Organisation, Hamid A Ghodse of Iran, was declared elected.
In the second round, Brazil's Elisaldo Carlini won, defeating nominees of Pakistan and the joint candidate of Canada and Chile.
Others were Burundi and Kenya from Africa, the Philippines from Asia, Russia from Eastern Europe, and Brazil from Latin America and Caribbean group and Germany and Spain from Western Europe and others groups. Norway was elected to complete Finland's term ending December 31 next year.
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Admiral Kumar discusses defence cooperation with Israel
Tel Aviv,Friday, May 04, 2001: Israel has expressed satisfaction over the steady progress in Indo-Israeli relations in general and defence ties in particular, official sources said.
Israeli Defence Minister Benjamin Ben Eliezer, during a meeting with Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Sushil Kumar on Thursday, reviewed the bilateral defence ties and conveyed satisfaction over the progress in Indo-Israeli relations, they said.
Kumar also met with the Director General of Ministry of Defence and the two sides reviewed defence relations, the sources said.
As part of his four-day visit, Kumar visited prestigious Israeli defence industries.
Later, he left on a two-day visit to France.
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India, China to be source of regional and global migration
Washington,Friday, May 04, 2001: Populous countries such as India and China will be the source of growing regional and global migration flows, which could contribute to demogrpahic and economic dynamism in developed countries, a US National Intelligence Council report has said.
High-tech workers and entrepreneurs will be increasingly prepared to emigrate from countries like India provided immigration laws in industrialised countries become sufficiently flexible to permit their entry, the Council, a representative body of US intelligence agencies, said.
"During the next 15 years, globalisation, demographic imbalances between OECD and developing countries, interstate and civil conflicts will fuel increasing international migration, much of it illegal," the report titled 'Growing Migration and its Implications for the United States' said.
On intra-regional migration and its consequences, it said countries such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Thailand and China account for growing migrant flows in the region and potential for continued emigration and potentially unsettling regional and global ramifications are substantial.
"Today, over 140 million people live outside their countries of birth and migrants comprise more than 15 per cent of the population in over 50 countries. Their numbers will grow as demographic push-and-pull factors intensify."
The report was prepared by Dr David F Gordon, National Intelligence Officer for Economics and Global issues, with inputs from experts and think tanks, including the RAND Corporation, Carnegie Endowment and Alfred P Sloan Foundation.
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Govt gives free hand to SEBI for measures to cool markets
New Delhi,Friday, May 04, 2001: Government said today it was for the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to take a final decision on implementing rolling settlement on all actively-traded scrips from July two and withdrawing the ban on short sales.
"SEBI is considering it (the ban on carry forward of trade and implementing rolling settlement). It is for SEBI to take a stance," Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha told reporters on the sidelines of an award ceremony here.
Sinha had a detailed meeting with SEBI chairman, D R Mehta, earlier in the day on the eve of the SEBI Board meeting in Mumbai tomorrow. Mehta also met Finance Secretary, Ajit Kumar, for discussing various measures for streamlining the country's capital market.
"Yes, a decision is expected to be taken tomorrow at the board meeting. I am not saying anything. It is for the board to take a decision," he told reporters when asked whether SEBI would ban carry forward trading from July two as recommended by its panel.
But there are indications that SEBI would implement all the measures it had announced in the last few weeks, including the withdrawal of the ban on short sales and going ahead with rolling settlement instead of the popular old badla system that had spurred speculations in the bourses.
A SEBI panel had recommended banning carry forward trading to contain volatility in the stock markets. But at the same time, it is feared that such a ban could affect the markets due to the liquidity crunch.
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G-20 meeting to be held in Delhi
New Delhi,Friday, May 04, 2001: India is likely to host for the first time the meeting of the Group of 20 developed and developing countries (G-20) in early December this year.
The group comprising Group of seven developed countries and 11 emerging economies including India, China, Brazil and Argentina was constituted two years ago to formulate strategies on World economic issues and evolve new international financial architecture.
This is for the third time that the annual meeting was being held.The first one was held in Berlin and the second in Montreal. Canada is presently the chairman of the Group.
Two multilateral institutions, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank (WB) are members of the group.
Official sources said in all probability the meeting would be held on December one and two in New Delhi. Formal announcement would be made by Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha after getting confirmation from Finance Ministers of member-countries about their participation.
India is a key member in the G-20 and Sinha chaired the all important development committee of the group at Berlin.
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World Bank approves $450 India power reform loan
The World Bank on Thursday approved a $450 million loan for India's Power Grid Corp. aimed at reforming the power system and promoting inter-regional and interstate power trading.
The five-year loan, guaranteed by the Indian government, will extend Power Grid's program of providing state utilities across the country with modern facilities to manage their power systems more efficiently.
The loan is part of a broader $1.3 billion power system reform project. Other contributors include Power Grid, local financiers and Germany's development bank Kreditanstalt fuer Wiederaufbau (KfW).
While Power Grid has made considerable progress in improving coordination and consolidation of India's fragmented transmission services, the World Bank remains concerned that power failures and lack of capacity, which result in frequent blackouts, are a constraint on economic growth in India.
"Power Grid is moving India towards an interconnected national grid -- a win-win scenario for both customers and suppliers," said Kari Nyman, the World Bank's project leader.
"The growth of Power Grid and the success of state power reforms are interdependent. As Power Grid provides state utilities access to new customers, the newly restructured utilities themselves become viable clients for Power Grid."
The World Bank loan also supports regional system coordination and control projects in the Eastern and Western regions. Similar projects in the Southern and Northern regions were supported under two previous World Bank loans.
The project will expand or reinforce power transmission linkages between regions and will support ongoing institutional development of Power Grid services and staff in key areas.
Funds will also be used to encourage private sector participation in the power sector through rationalization of regulatory and tariff barriers and will also be used to establish a national telecommunication network.
Optical fiber ground wire will be installed on the company's transmission lines, which can be used for telecommunications. The company has announced plans to establish a joint venture with a qualified telecom operator.
"Power Grid is ideally positioned to strengthen India's information infrastructure to help meet India's rapidly growing telecommunications needs," Nyman said.
"Given it's existing power transmission infrastructure, with a nationwide network with rights-of-way readily available, Power Grid is strategically placed to install and provide long-distance telecommunication facilities and service," he added.
India threw open its long-distance telecommunications sector last August, and Power Grid, which has a network of 24,850 miles (40,000 km) of transmission lines, plans to provide end-to-end bandwidth services.
The loan is granted directly to the state-owned power distribution utility but is guaranteed by the sovereign government of India.
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India-USA Davis Cup tie to be held in North Carolina
London,Friday, May 04, 2001: The United States Tennis Association has announced that the venue for the India-USA Davis Cup World Group Qualifying Round tie will be Winston-Salem in North Carolina state.
The event, slated for September 21-23, will feature India's crack duo Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupthi but the USA team is yet to be announced, according to information received here today.
Earlier, US captain Patrick McEnroe had remarked, "India is one of the traditional powers in Davis Cup play and will be a tough obstacle for us."
India qualified for the World Group playoff after defeating Japan 3-2 in the Asia-Oceania Zone second round tie in Tokyo last month.
Paes, bronze medallist in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, has an outstanding record in Davis Cup tennis. Paes-Bhupathi constitute one of the best doubles combinations in the world. In 1999, they became the first pair in 45 years to reach the finals of all four Grand Slam chamionships - winning the French Open and Wimbledon titles.
The USA is the most successful Davis Cup nation of all time. India are ranked 9th in this list and are one of only 18 teams who have figured in the final of the Davis Cup out of 141 participating countries. India have entered the final three times.
Raymedia Limited of London, holders of Davis Cup TV rights, have confirmed they will soon be inviting bids from Indian broadcasters for telecast of the tie.
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NCA decides not to include Gursharan as fifth coach
Mumbai,Friday, May 04, 2001: In a sudden turn-around in its stand, the National Cricket Academy today decided not to include former Test player Gursharan Singh after naming him as the fifth coach for its North Zone Academy which started functioning in New Delhi on May 1.
After the committee meeting here today, NCA chairman Raj Singh Dungarpur told reporters the decision was unanimous and Gursharan Singh will not be permitted to coach the boys in the NZCA.
"I put the proposal about the inclusion of fifth coach during the meeting but the committee overruled it as only NCA has the powers to choose the coaches. We have chosen former test players Yaspal Sharma as the main coach and Chetan Sharma, Surinder Khanna and former Ranji player Rajinder Amarnath as coaches", he added.
Not in the original list of four, the former Punjab and Delhi batsman's name was included apparently after intervention by some of the zonal officials and that of Rajinder Amarnath deleted.
But, with the youngest son of the illustrious Lala Amarnat going public with his protest, his name got back into the list and that of Gursharan Singh dropped.
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Uma Bharti inspects stadiums
New Delhi,Friday, May 04, 2001: Sports Minister Uma Bharti has made a whirlwind inspection of the stadiums in the capital which are being spruced up in preparation for the Afro-Asian Games in November.
Bharti visited the National Stadium, Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium and the Talkatora Stadium to supervise the progress of renovation work.
The Sports Minister had earlier visited the Nehru Stadium on April 24 and announced that the eight-lane track would be relaid and other facilities upgraded.
Bharti had earlier refused permission to host the inaugaral Afro-Asian Games, mooted 18 years ago, and asked the Indian Olympic Association for fresh dates.
IOA then sought the intervention of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee who, after a meeting with officials of the Government and IOA, gave the go-ahead.
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Cricket: Marsh promotes streamlined coaching approach in India
Former Australian coach Geoff Marsh, now a consultant for Indian cricket, says streamlined coaching will benefit the game in India.
The former Australian vice-captain, who is a consultant to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), was speaking after visiting the New Delhi branch of the national cricket academy on Thursday.
India set up a national cricket academy last year on the lines of the one in Australia and former Australian wicketkeeper Rod Marsh was appointed its consultant.
Geoff Marsh said he would submit a report to the BCCI next month on how to improve Indian cricket, including domestic tournaments.
He said streamlined coaching through the national academies would be a "pathway to international cricket" and would prevent the team from experiencing the kind of slump West Indies have suffered.
"It happened in Australia, in South Africa and it's happening in England now. It is giving the boys an opportunity to fast track," he said.
Marsh sought the job of India coach last year but former New Zealand captain John Wright was preferred.
Marsh said Wright had played a big role in India's recent test series win over Australia.
"John Wright has given them new ideas. He toughened them up a little bit in this series," Marsh said.
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