IAEA team finds defects at Rawatbhata

The safety review of units 3 and 4 of the atomic power station at Rawatbhata in Rajasthan by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has ended with the inspection team identifying certain deficiencies in the operations of the units.

The team has found problems in the maintenance of the fire doors and electrical cables and has flagged a need for improvements in certain aspects of the surveillance-testing programme and the system for root cause analyses.

In a statement on Wednesday, team leader Miroslav Lipar said a number of recommendations and suggestions were made.

“Examples [of areas requiring improvement] include the following: the plant should enhance actions to maintain electrical cable conditions to a high standard; the fire door inspection and maintenance programme should be enhanced to identify and correct fire door function; certain aspects of the plant’s surveillance testing programme should be further enhanced; and the plant should enhance root-cause analyses to systematically identify all learning opportunities,” he said.

He said the plant management expressed its determination to address all the areas identified for improvements and requested that the IAEA schedule a follow-up mission in about 15 months.

However, the team also identified several “good practices” which would be shared by the IAEA with the global nuclear industry for their benefit in due course.

Examples of good practice included the safety culture of the plant, which cultivated a constructive work environment and a sense of accountability among the personnel and gave the staff opportunity to expand skills and training.

In addition, the public awareness programme provided educational opportunities to the local community about nuclear and radiation safety; the plant had a system for effective management of training activities and it used testing facilities and mock-ups to improve the quality of maintenance work and reduce radiation dose.

The team, he said, had provided the plant management with a draft of its recommendations, suggestions and good practices in the form of technical notes for their comments. The notes would be reviewed by the IAEA headquarters including any comments received from the plant management on them. The final report will be submitted to the Central government, within the next three months.

This is the first safety review of an Indian nuclear power plant under the IAEA’s ‘Operational Safety Review Team [OSART]’ programme. The in-depth review, which began on October 29, covered the areas of management, organisation and administration, training, operations, maintenance, technical support, operating experience, radiation protection, chemistry, emergency planning and preparedness, and severe accident management.

The review was conducted at the request of the Central government. The team comprised experts from Canada, Belgium, Finland, Germany, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Sweden, apart from the IAEA itself.

The OSART programme was launched in 1982 and teams of international experts have already conducted 170 such reviews before coming to India and Rawatbhata.

Education for all still a distant cry, says NGO

The number of children enrolled at primary schools in West Bengal in 2010-11 had declined by over three lakh compared to the previous year, according to a report by the non-government organisation Child Right and You (CRY) that has a presence across the country.                                  

The report is based on findings of the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development.

“One of the most important things that we need to do for our children, especially those from the marginalised sections of society, is to ensure effective implementation of the Right to Education Act (RTE) as this would go a long way in improving the status of children in the country,” said CRY Regional Director Atindranath Das in a release issued on the occasion of Children’s Day on Wednesday.

“The data in the report indicates that education for all is still a distant cry in India as far as implementation of RTE is concerned,” he added.

The report pointed out that the total enrolment of girls for primary and upper primary levels in the State was 49 per cent and 52 per cent respectively in the year 2010-11.

Though the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act was passed in 2009, the State’s average annual drop-out rate at primary level in 2010-11 was 6.5, which was almost equivalent to the national average of 6.8.

The report also highlighted that 45 per cent of government primary schools have a pupil-teacher ratio greater than 30 -- two per cent higher than the all-India figure.

It revealed that 39 per cent of government upper primary schools have a pupil-teacher ratio greater than 35, which was six per cent higher than the national figure.

It also stated that three per cent of the government schools in the State were manned by single-teacher (per school). According to the report, nine per cent of these schools do not have a toilet facility and five per cent of the State’s government-run primary schools do not have drinking water facilities.

India second in demanding user info: Google

The Indian government ranked second in demanding Web user information — next only to the U.S. government — from Google in the six-month period from January to June this year, according to the ‘Transparency Report’ published by the Web services major on Tuesday.

During the six-month period, the Indian government — both by way of court orders and by way of requests from police/executives — requested Google to disclose user information 2,319 times over 3,467 users/accounts. Google fully or partially complied with the request to the tune of 64 per cent. Only the U.S. government requested more data during the period — 7,969 requests over 16,281 accounts; compliance rate: 90 per cent.

It is the sixth time Google has brought out the bi-annual report detailing its interactions with the world government agencies. It details two categories of interactions : requests to divulge user data and requests to pull down content. India ranked seventh in the list of requests to pull down data; experts say the possible reason could be the government not having such powers under the Constitution.

Himalaya Drug wins trademark battle over Liv. 52

Himalaya Drug Company has won a 15-year-old legal battle over its medicine Liv.52 with the Delhi High Court holding that homoeopathic firm SBL Limited infringed the trademark by coming up with its own preparation named as Liv-T.

“The defendant (SBL Ltd) is restrained from using the mark LIV as part of its trade mark LIV-T while dealing with the medicinal preparations. Decree be drawn accordingly...,” a bench of justices Pradeep Nandrajog and Manmohan Singh said.

The court set aside its single judge bench judgement which had held that SBL Limited did not infringe trademark Liv.52 of Himalaya Drug Company, registered in 1957, in making its own medicine Liv-T. — PTI

FDI will put economy back on high growth trajectory: President

Vaghela gets EC notice

The Election Commission (EC) has issued a notice, returnable by 5 p.m. on Thursday, to the former Gujarat Chief Minister, Shankersinh Vaghela, seeking explanation for his alleged “objectionable and inflammatory speech which can incite and induce communal hatred” during a poll campaign in Surat on October 31.

Mr. Vaghela, who is also the Chairman of the India Tourism Development Corporation Limited (ITDC), made the speech at a public meeting at the BRC ground in Surat. The Assembly elections in the State are scheduled for December 13 and 17.

The notice said the EC received a complaint from the convener of the Gujarat unit of the BJP’s legal cell, Parindu Bhagat, and reports from the State Chief Electoral Officer, the Surat District Election Officer and the Udhna Assembly constituency Returning Officer, stating that Mr. Vaghela “violated the Model Code of Conduct by inciting the communal feelings of the people through “his speech.”

Tough law on sexual offences against children comes into force

The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, which was passed by Parliament in May this year, came into force on Wednesday.

Under the Act, a child is defined as any person below the age of 18 and is gender-neutral.

More importantly, the Act provides precise definitions of different forms of sexual abuse, including penetrative and non-penetrative sexual assault, sexual harassment and pornography.

The Act provides for stringent punishment, graded as per the gravity of the offence, with a maximum term of rigorous imprisonment for life for certain offences.

Union Women and Child Development Minister Krishna Tirath told reporters on Wednesday: “In keeping with the best international child protection standards, the Act provides for mandatory reporting of sexual offences. It also prescribes punishment for a person if he provides false information with intention to defame any person, including a child. Most importantly, the Act provides for child friendly procedures for reporting of offences, recording of evidence, investigation and trial. Also under Section 45 of the Act, the power to make rules rests with the Central government.”

The rules framed under the Act provide for qualifications and experience of interpreters, translators, special educators, and experts; arrangements for the care, protection and emergency medical treatment of the child; compensation payable to a child who has been the victim of a sexual offence; and periodic monitoring of the provisions of the Act by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights and the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights.

The rules rely on the structures established under the Juvenile Justice Act, 2000, to make arrangements for the care and protection of the child and to ensure that the person is not re-victimised in the course of investigation and trial.

Ms. Tirath said: “Another important addition is that as per the rules where a child is taken to a medical facility for emergency care, no magisterial requisition or other documentation may be demanded prior to treatment. The rules also lay down the criteria for award of compensation by the special court, which include the gravity of the offence; loss of educational opportunity or employment; and disability, disease or pregnancy suffered as a consequence. The compensation may be awarded at the interim stage as well as upon completion of trial.”

Inflation declines

Inflation declined marginally to 7.45 per cent in October even though prices of food items like rice, wheat pulses and potato showed a rise.

The annual rate of WPI (wholesale price index)-based inflation eased a tad to 7.45 per cent in October from 7.81 per cent in the previous month even as select food commodities continued to rule at higher levels.

Although the inflation level this October was markedly lower as compared to the high of 9.87 per cent during the same month a year ago, the fact that it remained sticky at over 7 per cent at a time when the CPI (consumer price index)-based retail inflation has been hovering near the 10 per cent-mark may bring hardly any comfort to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for easing interest rates during the mid-quarter review of its monetary policy on December 18.

This is despite the fact that while growth projections for the economy have been significantly lowered, including the RBI which has scaled it down from 6.5 per cent to 5.8 per cent for 2012-13, the deceleration in export growth coupled with a contraction in factory output has also dashed hopes of the pick-up during the second-half of the fiscal year.

However, India Inc., which has been pressing for a cut in interest rates to kick-start investment and industrial activity, sought to argue its case for a rate cut by interpreting the figures positively.

Highlighting the rosier side of the WPI data, FICCI President R. V. Kanoria said: “The inflation numbers are showing signs of moderation with inflation coming down from 8 per cent in August 2012 to 7.81 per cent in September 2012 and further down to 7.45 per cent in October 2012. This should encourage RBI to fine-tune the monetary policy with the view to bolster growth, particularly that of the manufacturing sector”.

Pressing further ahead with his line of argument, the chamber chief said: “Some of the key economic indicators, be it GDP growth or industrial production, continue to remain soft and highlight the sluggishness in the domestic economy.

The slowdown in the growth momentum has a clear bearing on employment generation and hence we must do everything possible to turn the tide of weak growth.

The government has already initiated a series of reform measures. The Finance Ministry has also reiterated its resolve to rein in the fiscal deficit.

Given these moves, we feel that RBI should also take steps that would support growth and lift business sentiment.”

As per official data, inflation in food articles, which accounts for a 14.3 per cent share in the WPI basket, declined to 6.62 per cent in October 2012 from 7.86 per cent in the previous month. And this was despite the fact that wheat turned dearer by 19.78 per cent and cereals by 14.35 per cent. Alongside, potatoes were costlier by 49.13 per cent, pulses by 20 per cent and rice by 11.40 per cent on a year-on-year basis. Vegetable prices, however, eased by 7.45 per cent.

Also, while inflation in the fuel and power category eased to 11.71 per cent during the month from 11.88 per cent in September, the price spiral in manufactured products was pegged at 5.95 per cent in October, marginally down from 6.26 per cent in the previous month.

Meanwhile, headline inflation for August was marked up to 8.01 per cent on revision from the provisional estimate of 7.55 per cent earlier.

Golconda diamond fetches world record price

The rare 76 carat diamond mined from erstwhile Golconda kingdom, named after its first known owner Archduke Joseph August of Austria, was sold for a record price of €16.9 million (about Rs. 118 crore) at an auction in Geneva.

Christie’s, the auction house which conducted the sale, described the diamond as cushion shaped, colourless, internally flawless and of superb quality.

“It is a world record for a Golconda diamond and a world record price per carat for a colourless diamond”, said Francois Curiel, director of the International Jewellery Department at Christie’s. The rare diamond was sold by American jeweller Black, Starr & Frost. However, the buyer remained anonymous. The auction house thinks it is on its way to a museum. Archduke Joseph diamond shares the same lineage as the other two world famous diamonds: Koh-i-noor and Hope. The three diamonds were mined from Golconda or Kollur mines and left Indian shores many years ago. Some of the best diamonds of the world were mined in Kollur on the banks of Krishna river in the present day Krishna and Guntur districts that formed part of the Golconda Kingdom,” said Narendra Luther, who wrote a lot on Qutub Shahi kings, Golconda and city’s history.

Special connection

Diamonds, Golconda and Hyderabad’s history had a special connection. Though only few were mined in Kollur, they were the best. They then were brought to Golconda city and cut and marketed. “Apart from mines Golconda was a big trading centre for diamond and gems in the east,” says Mr. Luther. With only India having such mines at that time, Europeans had this belief that diamonds were only found in Golconda mines. So much so that an entire class of precious stones that do not have nitrogen are described as Golconda diamonds. Some of the other famed diamonds excavated from the Golconda mines are Darya-e Nur ( the largest at 185 carats and the finest among the crown jewels of Iran), Nur-Ul- Ain, the Regent and the Wittelsbach. It is not clear how the Archduke Joseph diamond reached Austria. Mr. Luther recalls how Archduke Franz Ferdinad had visited Hyderabad in 1893 and was a guest of the sixth Nizam, Mahbub Ali Khan. A German diary, which he got translated, spoke of both playing a game of shooting.

The Christie’s website explains that the diamond was passed by the Archduke, first known owner, to his son and later deposited in the vault of Hungarian General Credit Bank in 1933. It resurfaced in London in 1961 and subsequently at Christie’s Geneva auction house in 1993 where it was sold for $6.48 million.

Koh-i-noor is among the British Crown Queen Jewels and the Hope diamond is displayed in the Smithsonian Institute in U.S.

China’s Communist Party selects new leadership

The Communist Party of China (CPC) on Wednesday selected a new Central Committee, marking the end of Hu Jintao’s 10-year term as General Secretary and paving the way for Thursday’s unveiling of the new top leadership.

The CPC concluded its once-in-five year National Congress after the 2,300 or so delegates cast secret ballots to choose the party’s 18th Central Committee, which will comprise 205 members and 171 alternates — who do not have voting rights — and will remain in power until 2017.

After the new Central Committee meeting on Thursday morning, the CPC will unveil the next Politburo and Politburo Standing Committee (PBSC) — its elite inner circle of leaders and the party’s highest authority.

There were no surprises during Wednesday’s closing session: Vice President Xi Jinping — Mr. Hu’s anointed successor — and Vice Premier Li Keqiang were named among the Central Committee’s 205 full members, along with eight other current Politburo members, who are seen as contenders for spots on the next PBSC.

Mr. Xi and Mr. Li are the only members of the current nine-member Standing Committee who will hold on to their positions following the transition. On Thursday morning, Mr. Xi is scheduled to lead the new PBSC — expected to comprise seven or nine members — to an audience of Chinese and foreign journalists.

Mr. Hu ended his decade-long tenure as General Secretary — he will stay on as President until March — urging Party members to “lead the people in seizing and making the most of the strategic opportunities for China’s development that we have in this important period.”

The National Congress also approved amendments to the Party Constitution. Cementing Mr. Hu’s legacy, the Congress passed a resolution including his doctrine, called the “Scientific Outlook on Development,” which stresses balanced growth, in the text.

Another amendment called upon the party to “attach greater importance to conducting oversight of cadres,” reflecting rising concerns on the rampant corruption even within the party’s highest ranks, exposed by the purge of the former Politburo member, Bo Xilai, in September.

15/NOV

• Trade in the ghosts of 1962
• Agenda for social justice
• Chasing a chimeric peace

Former defence minister K.C. Pant passes away

India's former defence minister and Planning Commission deputy chairman Krishna Chandra Pant died of a heart attack here Thursday. He was 81.

Popularly known as K.C. Pant, he was the union defence minister between 1987 and 1989 when the Congress was in power with Rajiv Gandhi as the prime minister. Pant was the son of former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and former union home minister Govind Ballabh Pant.

Born in 1931 in Nainital, Pant studied at St. Joseph's College, did his Master's from Lucknow University and joined the Congress.

He was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1962 at the age of 31. He continued his winning streak in subsequent Lok Sabha polls in 1967 and 1971, and was again elected in 1989.

He became a Rajya Sabha member in 1978 and leader of the house 1979-80. With 26 years as a parliamentarian, Pant served as minister of defence, finance, steel and heavy engineering, home affairs, electronics, atomic energy and science and technology in the union government.
Pant was also the first chairman of the advisory board on energy.

In 1998, when the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee came to power, Pant joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). In 2000, he was appointed deputy chairman of the Planning Commission by Vajpayee, who, as prime minister, was the panel's chairman.

Pant served in the position till 2004, when the NDA was voted out in the general elections. Pant's wife, Ila Pant was elected to the 12th Lok Sabha in 1998 on a BJP ticket from Nainital.