NIESBUD- Developing Entrepreneurial Culture

National Institute for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development (NIESBUD) is a premier Institute under the Ministry of MSME for coordinating, training and overseeing the activities of various institutions and agencies engaged in Entrepreneurship Development particularly in the area of small industry and small business. NIESBUD has launched a major project for Entrepreneurship and Skill Development of 35,000 youth by December 2011 in the states of West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan, Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, J&K, Gujarat and Union Territory of Chandigarh. NIESBUD is one among several Institutions functioning under the Ministry of MSME. In its endeavor to spread entrepreneurial culture throughout the country, the Ministry is being assisted by two more entrepreneurship development Institutions namely National Institute for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (ni-msme), Hyderabad and Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship, Guwahati.

 Identifying Skills for Maximum Employment

The Skills have been identified on the basis of market needs to ensure maximum employment. The Institute hopes that at least 25% of the participants will be employed within this financial year. The main skills identified are Housekeeping & Hospitality, Retail Management, IT & ITES, Light Engineering, Fashion Designing, Artificial Gems & Jewellery and Cosmetology and Beautician. Most of these training programmes are being sponsored by the Ministry under the Scheme of ‘Assistance to Training Institutes’. The participants are encouraged to gain self employment and are provided hand holding support under the scheme of Rajiv Gandhi Udyami Mitra Yojana (RGUMY) being implemented by the Ministry of MSME. The programmes are closely monitored to ensure the highest quality. The District Administration, Industry and Business Associations, Bankers and Placement Agencies are closely involved with the programmes.

National and International Forum for Exchange of Ideas

NIESBUD has been conducting training programmes for national and International participants since 1983 besides conducting research studies and providing guidance and consultancy to new and existing entrepreneurs in MSME sector. NIESBUD has been working with different Ministries like  Ministry of Labour and Employment, Rural Development, Social Justice & Empowerment, etc. and assisting them in fulfilling their objectives.

Promoting Entrepreneurship

NIESBUD has helped Central and State Governments and their agencies in promoting entrepreneurship in their respective areas by way of guidance, consultancy, etc. It has also provided support and guidance to various countries in Asia and Africa.

NIESBUD has recently organized more than 100 Workshops in different Engineering Colleges, Management Institutions and others in order to create awareness among the students and faculty in realizing the power of entrepreneurship.  Thousands of students and hundreds of Faculties realized that the ultimate need of the country is not only to create another employee rather to establish entrepreneurs who will in turn provide employment to many persons.

Till the end of 2010-11, the Institute has trained more than 75,000 persons including 2100 from 125 countries and plans to conduct 8 international training programmes for training 200 participants from 25 Countries in 2011-12 the Institutes will also train at least 40,000 persons in employable skills and will strive for the wage and self employment of at least 10,000 participants.

Pension Schemes for Old Age Persons

The Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pensions Scheme (IGNOAPS) is one of the components of National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP). Funds for NSAP are released as Additional Central Assistance by the Ministry of Finance to States and by Ministry of Home Affairs to Union Territories is combined manner for all the schemes under NSAP. Hence, no separate releases are made for IGNOAPS. As per Census 2001, female dependent senior citizens (60+) in urban areas constitute 44.8% of the total urban female senior citizens (60+) population whereas male dependent senior citizens (60+) in urban areas constitutes 23.7% of the total urban male senior citizens (60+) population. Expenditure under NSAP and number of beneficiaries reported by the States under IGNOAPS during the last five years are given as under:

Year	Expenditure reported under NSAP (Rs. In lakh)	Beneficiaries covered under IGNOAPS
2006-07	198049.94	8708837
2007-08	311098.71	11514026
2008-09	387531.16	15483836
2009-10	471883.22	16333578
2010-11	548059.54	17059756

Mysore & Vijayawada Bag ESCA 2011 Awards

Mr Kamal Nath, Minister of Urban Development, Govt. of India gave away the Environmentally Sustainable City Awards (ESCA), 2011 to the cities of Mysore and Vijayawada at the 5th Euro-India Summit on 13 October 2011 at Leuven, Belgium.

Speaking at the Summit, Minister Nath emphasized the growing infrastructure and urbanization challenges being faced by India and highlighted the steps being taken by the Govt. of India towards “creating economically viable, vibrant, efficient and inclusive cities”. Mr.Nath said that as of now 60% GDP is being generated from the urban centers and this percentage is likely to further increase.

ESCA awards are based on the efforts made by the cities for the conservation of Water, Air, Habitat, Energy and Earth.

The Mysore Municipal Corporation has implemented a pilot project on zero waste management (ZWM) at Kumbarakoppalu. The inorganic waste is brought to the ZWM by Self Help Groups and subjected to aerobic treatment and vermi composting. The project has enhanced community participation and provided employment opportunities to the low income families.

Vijaywada Municipal Corporation has been chosen for implementing the energy saving Project for Street Lighting on ESCO basis. The average energy consumption before the project implementation was 12 million KWH which has reduced now to 4.8 million KWH.

Earlier, in Brussels, Minister Nath addressed the Plenary Session of the European Union Committee of Regions (COR) on Wednesday. This is the first occasion when a Minister of a non EU has addressed the COR. Speaking on the occasion Minister Nath invited the EU to come forward and partner with India in the area of capacity building and invited investment in the Urban Sector, including through Public Private Partnership mode.

The COR is the political assembly of local and regional authorities who are drawn from 27 EU Member States. The COR was set up in 1994 and its purpose is to give local and regional representatives a say in the development of new EU laws.

US Senate passes China currency bill

Defying Chinese anger and White House warnings, the US Senate passed legislation to punish Beijing for alleged currency manipulation widely blamed in Washington for costing American jobs.

Lawmakers voted 63-35 to approve the measure, which faced a gloomy future in the Republican-led House of Representatives amid warnings from leaders there that it could spark a trade war between the two economic giants.

"We are in trade war. But today we're fighting back," said Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown, one of the bill's chief champions, celebrating an end to "the unilateral disarmament approach we've taken for the past decade."

The proposal, powered by a tide of US voter frustration at a sour economy and high unemployment ahead of November 2012 elections, envisions retaliatory duties on Chinese exports if the value of the yuan is unfairly "misaligned."

Republican House Speaker John Boehner has signalled that he will not bring the legislation to a vote, calling it "dangerous" to economic relations between the world's number-one and number-three economies.

"You could start a trade war. And a trade war, given the economic uncertainty here and all around the world -- it's just very dangerous, and we should not be engaged in this," Boehner said recently.

President Barack Obama last week declined to back the legislation and worried it could violate World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules even as he accused China of "gaming the trade system" in a way that hurts the US economy.

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner reiterated Obama's concerns about breaking international trade rules but, asked whether senators had fired the first shot in a trade war, replied: "They did not."

Few in Washington dispute the charge that China keeps the yuan unfairly low against the dollar, giving its goods as much as a 30 percent edge over similar US products, widening the American trade deficit and costing jobs in Washington.

But the measure's opponents warn that it risks worsening ties with China, and say a rise in the yuan would merely boost manufacturing and jobs in countries such as Vietnam or Malaysia not in the United States.

They also contend that, if successful, the bill will increase the cost of commodities or consumer goods from China, hurting rather than helping US businesses and families.

The legislation's backers, an unusual coalition of Democrats and Republicans, have said it's time for Washington to take on Beijing, and predict a boost in the yuan will make Chinese workers wealthier and more likely to buy US goods, thus creating jobs and narrowing the trade gap.

US Senate rejects Obama jobs bill

 
In a blow to President Barack Obama, the US Senate effectively killed a jobs bill at the heart of his efforts to turn the sour economy around in the run up to the November 2012 elections.

Lawmakers voted 50-49 to advance the USD 447 billion dollar plan, falling short of the 60 senators needed to do so, in the face of fierce opposition from Republicans eager to deny the president a second term.

"Tonight's vote is by no means the end of this fight," Obama said in a statement released before the vote was over but after its outcome was unmistakable, vowing to move his plan piecemeal "as soon as possible."

And he vowed to pile political pressure on Republicans in a series of votes aimed at forcing them to oppose funds aimed at helping middle class families and block tax hikes on the very richest Americans to pay for the plan.

"With so many Americans out of work and so many families struggling, we can't take 'no' for an answer. Ultimately, the American people won't take 'no' for an answer," said the embattled president.

The bare majority vote inflated Senate support for the measure, as some Democrats who backed ending debate on the legislation had said they would oppose its final passage, a point that led Republicans to crow that a bipartisan majority was rejecting the bill.

Two Democrats broke ranks to oppose the blueprint, while one Republican did not vote, while Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid also voted against the measure in a parliamentary manoeuvre that allows him to bring up the measure again at any time.

Obama has spent weeks demanding that Congress pass a full version of a bill designed to boost growth, cut the unemployment rate of 9.1 per cent and shield the fragile US recovery from the threat of European debt contagion.

But given staunch Republican opposition, it was never likely the entire package would emerge in one piece from a congressional showdown.

Instead, the stage was set for a new round of grandstanding and political brinkmanship, unlikely to improve the disconsolate public's contempt for Washington, but which holds heavy implications for Obama's reelection bid.

In an unusually partisan attack on Republicans, US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner warned that they risked helping to tip the country into recession by rejecting the White House's approach.

PSLV-C18 puts four satellites in orbit

India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C18) demonstrated its reliability once again when it put successfully four satellites in orbit on Wednesday. The satellites were: Megha-Tropiques, an Indo-French satellite to study the weather and climate in the tropical region of the world; SRMSat built by the students of SRM university, near Chennai; Jugnu, built by the students of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur; and Vesselsat from Luxembourg. This was the 19th consecutively successful mission of the PSLV out of 20 launches from 1993.

It was a flawless a mission with the PSLV-C18 rising from the first launch pad at the spaceport at Sriharikota at the scheduled time of 11 a.m. As the vehicle sped up from the launch pad, it disappeared briefly into the clouds to knife out into the sky again. Applause broke out in the Mission Control Centre as the four stages of the vehicle ignited on time and fell into the Bay of Bengal. At the end of more than 21 minutes of flight, the PSLV-C18 first catapulted the 1,000 kg Megha-Tropiques satellite into a precise orbit at an altitude of 867 km. The satellite was slung into orbit at a velocity of more than 26,000 km an hour. A few seconds later, SRMSat flew out, followed by VesselSat and Jugnu. 

Sargent and Sims win Nobel economics prize

The Nobel Prize for Economics was awarded  to Thomas J Sargent and Christopher Sims, both of the United States "for their empirical research on cause and effect in the macroeconomy".

The prize committee said the winners have developed methods for answering questions such as how economic growth and inflation are affected by a temporary increase in the interest rate or a tax cut. Sargent and Sims both 68 carried out their research independently in the 1970s and ‘80s. 

Mr. Sargent is a professor at New York University, and Mr. Sims is a professor at Princeton University.

The economics prize capped this year’s Nobel announcements. The awards will be handed out on Dec. 10 the anniversary of prize founder Alfred Nobel’s death. The economics prize is not among the original awards established in Nobel’s 1895 will, but was created in 1968 by the Swedish central bank in his memory.

Indian Pavilion at German International Food Fair

Dr. Charan Das Mahant, Minister of State for Agriculture & Food Processing Industries, inaugurated the Indian pavilion at the international food fair at Cologne, Germany yesterday. Dr Mahant is leading the Indian official delegation. Over a hundred Indian exhibitors are participating in the ‘Anuga Food Fair’. The exhibition is one of the most important such fairs in the world in which producers and traders of organic, processed, dairy, bakery, beverage food items exhibits their wares. Over 1.5 lakh trade visitors are likely to visit the five-day event.

Indian-origin woman in race for Pride of Australia Medal

Indian-origin woman Devinder Bains has been named as a finalist in the 'Fair Go' category of the Pride of Australia Medal for her inspirational teaching.  Bains, who migrated to Australia in 1992, teaches at Jinibara State school at Narangba and has been teaching in Australia for 11 years, according to local reports here.
She said teaching was all about making a difference in children's lives. "The future of Australia is in the hands of teachers, so we need to be caring, very patient and make a difference." Bains, who also teaches Indian language classes at Banyo library, said her culture had sparked the curiosity of many pupils. She said teaching in Australia was different to India, with the extra resources available making teaching more fun and more practical.
Bains said education in India was a privilege, while in Australia it was part of normal life.

New dinosaur tracks found in U.S. state

Researchers at the University of Arkansas are studying a new field of fossilized dinosaur tracks, including one set that appears to be from a large three-toed predator, the university said on October 05.

The tracks were found on private land in southwest Arkansas and provide a window into the life forms that roamed the area as long as 120 million years ago during the Early Cretaceous period.

“The quality of the tracks and the length of the track ways make this an important site,” said Stephen K. Boss, who led the project.

The research effort is funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation.

Based on the rock in which the footprints were found, researchers have a good idea of what the climate would have been like, Boss said.

“Picture an environment much like that of the shores of the Persian Gulf today. The air temperature was hot. The water was shallow and very salty,” Boss said. “It was a harsh environment. We’re not sure what the animals were doing here, but clearly they were here in some abundance.”

Some of the tracks in the field have not been documented before in Arkansas. The researchers’ work will expand knowledge about dinosaurs that roamed the area and the climate during the period.

The tracks from the three-toed dinosaur are about 2 feet (0.6 meters) long by 1 foot (0.3 meter) wide and likely are from Acrocanthosaurus atokensis, one of the largest predators ever known. There are also prints from sauropods, large, long-necked plant-eating dinosaurs. Other sauropod tracks have been found in the state, including at a site near Nashville, also in the state’s southwest.

“Through tracks, we can learn all sorts things about dinosaur biomechanics and behaviour,” said University of Kansas researcher Brian Platt, who is taking part in the program. “Dinosaur bones can be dragged away by animals or swept out to sea. But we know that about 120 million years ago, dinosaurs walked right through here.”

The grant from the National Science Foundation enabled a team of researchers to spend two weeks studying the site. They used traditional tools, including hammers, chisels and brooms, but also cutting-edge technology to record images, take measurements and map the site.

Rock samples from the site can also shed light on the conditions under which the dinosaurs lived.

“Because we see footprints here, we know that this surface was at one time exposed to the elements,” said Celina Suarez, a postdoctoral researcher at Boise State University who will be joining the faculty at the University of Arkansas in the fall of 2012.

Researchers can calculate how much rain fell and how much moisture evaporated. Using data from this site and others, scientists can learn more about the climate in general and work to predict the planet’s future climate.

“This site will add to the knowledge of both the animals and climate of the Early Cretaceous,” Boss said. “Scientists will be studying these data for many years.”

Humans are just modified fish

Humans are just modified fish, say scientists who claim to have discovered how the muscles controlling the pelvic fins of the marine species have paved the way for the evolution of back legs in higher animals.

A team, led by Prof Peter Currie at Monash University and Dr. Nicholas Cole at University of Sydney, says this innovation gave rise to the tetrapods, or four-legged creatures, along with human’s distant ancestors who made the first steps onto land some 400 million years ago.

The scientists studied primitive cartilaginous fish: Australia’s bamboo shark and its cousin, the elephant shark; and three bony fish: The Australian lungfish, the zebrafish and the American paddlefish.

Prof Currie said the genetics of a fish are not vastly different to our own.

“We have shown that the mechanism of pelvic muscle formation in bony fish is transitional between that in sharks and in our tetrapod ancestors.

“By examining the way the different fish species generated the muscles of their pelvic fins we were able to uncover the evolutionary forerunners of the hind limbs. Humans are just modified fish,” he said.

In fact, the scientists used the fish species living today to trace the evolution of pelvic fin muscles to find out how the load bearing hind limbs of the tetrapods evolved.

To find differences in pelvic fin muscle formation, they compared embryos of the descendants of species representing key turning points in vertebrate evolution.

The scientists genetically engineered fish to trace the migration of precursor muscle cells in early developmental stages as the animal’s body took shape. These cells in the engineered fish emitted red or green light.

The team found that the bony fish had a different mechanism of pelvic fin muscle formation from that of the cartilaginous fish, a mechanism that was a stepping stone to the evolution of tetrapod physiology.

The findings have been published in the ‘PLoS Biology’ journal.

Largest Ever Water Supply Scheme in Himachal Pradesh Was Inaugurated

The largest ever water supply scheme in Himachal Pradesh was inaugurated on 6 October 2011 in Kangehan area of Kangra district. Constructed at a cost of 70 crore rupees, the scheme will benefit a population of one lakh 31 thousand people. This will cater to Changer area which was facing water scarcity.

This lift water supply scheme to be operated in full automation will cover a population of more than 1.311 lakh scattered over 35 panchayats of Changar area of Tehsils Jaisinghpur, Dehra, Khundian and Palampur. A provision of storing 91 lakh liters water has been made under the scheme by constructing 15 storage tanks.

Himachal Pradesh Government has accorded priority to provide safe drinking water to the people of the State and all the efforts are being made to construct new water supply schemes in the remotest areas of the State, besides augmenting the existing ones.

Tata Motors Announced the Launch of Tata Manza Sedan in Johannesburg, South Africa

Tata Motors on 7 October 2011 announced the launch of luxurious Tata Manza sedan and the international Tata Prima range of premium commercial vehicles at the Johannesburg International Motor Show 2011. It also displayed a wide range of other vehicles, laden with latest technologies delivering better, convenience, comfort, performance and environment protection. In passenger vehicles, the Tata Vista is on display.

 While In commercial vehicles, the debutants comprise the Tata Venture, a multi-purpose vehicle, Tata Super ACE, the latest 1 tonne mini-truck, Tata LPO 1823 commuter bus, Tata Xenon 2.2 L Cargo Box, Tata Xenon 2.2 L Double Cab 4x4, Tata LPO 1623 CNG bus and the Tata Xenon CNG.

World’s Highest Webcam Was Installed on Kala Patthar

The world’s highest webcam was installed on Kala Patthar, a smaller mountain facing the Everest. It is a solar-powered camera and set at 18618 feet (5675 metres). The webcam can withstand temperature as low as minus 30 degrees Celsius and operates from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. The Web cam will send live images of Mount Everest back to scientists studying the effect of climate change on the planet’s tallest peak. Earlier, scientists had set up a webcam at the base camp of Mount Aconcagua in Argentina.

The German surveillance firm Mobotix developed the device and it was installed by the mountain research group, Giampietro Kohl of EV-K2-CNR.

Apple Inc. co-founder and Former CEO Steve Jobs Died

Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Inc. died at age 56 from pancreatic cancer on 6 October 2011. Steve Jobs had stepped down as Apple’s chief executive on 24 August 2011. Steve Jobs co-founded Apple in 1976 along with Ronald Wayne and Steve Wozniak. Steve also co-founded and was the CEO of Pixar Animation Studios, which created animated films. He became a member of the board of directors of the Walt Disney Company in 2006, following the acquisition of Pixar by Disney. After leaving Apple, Jobs founded NeXT Computer in 1985.  Steve Jobs was from California, USA.

Steve Jobs  helped create the Macintosh, one of the world’s most influential computers. He also reinvented the portable music player with the iPod, launched the first successful legal method of selling music online with iTunes and reordered the cellphone market with the iPhone.

Apple is leading the consumer technology world with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, its family of iPod media players and iTunes media store, and its Mac computers and iLife and iWork application suites. Apple recently introduced the iPad, a breakthrough internet and digital media device, in addition to iBookstore, alongside iTunes and the App store.