Ministerial action on 12 Oct 09 Monday

Ministerial action on 12 Oct 09 Monday
1) Appointment of Uttarakhand High Court Judge
Conferred by Clause (1) of Article 217 of the Constitution of India, Alok Singh is appointed as the Judge of the Uttarakhand High Court.

Courtesy: Ministry of law and justice
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2) Appointment of Madhya Pradesh High Court Additional Judge

Conferred by Clause (1) of Article 224 of the Constitution of India, Piyush Mathur is appointed as the Additional Judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court. He will hold the office for a period of two years.

3) Appointment of Additional Judges for Andhra Pradesh High Court

Conferred by Clause (1) of Article 224 of the Constitution of India, (1) Nalla Bhuma Narayan Rao (2) Samudrala Govindarajulu, are appointed as the Additional Judges of the Andhra Pradesh High Court for a period of two years.
Courtesy: Ministry of law and justice

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4) ‘Spreading the Message’—the novel publication of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting

‘Spreading the Message’ is the first publication brought up the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. It will provide information regarding the sectoral responsibilities, structure of the ministry, print media policy, guidelines outlining provisions of IPTV, DTH, setting up of community radio and uplinking/ downlinking guidelines and progress of the media and entertainment industry.

The compendium also illustrated the guidelines for different awards given by the Films Wing for the National Awards and the International Film Festival.

Ambika Soni, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting, stated that ‘the role of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting is that of a change agent in catalyzing growth and development by providing accurate and timely information to the people’. ‘Spreading the Message’ publication will enable the stakeholders in understanding the role and responsibilities of the Ministry in Government’s efforts to keep the people informed, the Minister said.

Courtesy: Ministry of Information and Broadcasting
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5) Yudh Abhyas 09

An Indo-US Joint Exercise, YUDH ABHYAS 09, will be conducted at Babina from 12 to 29 Oct, under the aegis of HQ Southern Command 2009. It is the part of Indo-US Defence Cooperation. Mechanised Infantry Battalion of Indian army and 2nd Squadron of 14 CAV of 25 Stryker Brigade Combat Team (Approx strength of 325 persons) from US are participating in this exercise.

The joint training programme conducted for sharing useful experiences and joint training exercise with CI/CT focus in a semi urban scenario under UNPKO Chapter VII.


Courtesy: ministry of Defence
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6) Two Prithvi-II Missiles Successfully Test Fired

Two operationalised Prithvi (P-II) Missiles were successfully launched on Monday. The launch took place at 10.30 AM from the launch pad at Interim Test Range (ITR), Chandipur, Balasore, Orissa. The two missiles were aimed at two different targets at 350 Kms from the launch point.

Prithvi, the first missile was developed under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme and has the capability to carry 500 Kg of warhead. It is Nine metres in length with one metre diameter thrusted by Liquid propulsion twin engine. It uses Advanced Inertial Guidance System with manoeuvring trajectory and reaches the targets with a few metre accuracy

Both the missiles were from the stock of Armed Forces and the total launch activities were carried out by the Strategic Force Command. The launches were witnessed by Scientific Adviser to Defence Minister, V K Saraswat, Lt Gen BS Nagal, C-in-C, Strategic Forces Command, Lt Gen VK Singh, GOC-in-C, Eastern Command, Avinash Chander, Director Advanced Systems Laboratory, S K Ray, Director, Research Centre Imarat, S P Dash, Director ITR, V L N Rao, Programmed Director, Maj Gen (Retd) R Khetrapal, CMD, Bharat Dynamics Limited and other senior DRDO Scientists.

Courtesy: ministry of Defence

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7) Government prepared to further strengthen rti through legislation – Prithiraj Chavan

The 4th Annual (two-day) Convention on RTI got under way here on Monday. President of India, Pratibha Devisingh Patil inaugurated the two-day Convention organized by CIC. The theme for this year’s convention is “Strengthening Right to Information”. In her inaugural address, the President said that for assessing deliverability, the citizens need information about how their government is functioning. RTI gives to each individual citizen the means to question and to get answer.

Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Prithiraj Chavan in his remarks said that in the first four years of this law the Government has been ably supported by different stakeholders like the information seekers, civil society, media, the Information Commissioners and the Information Providers. This has helped achieve the aim of the government to inculcate a culture of transparency and accountability in the working of every public authority and to secure access to information to all its citizens.

Chavan further said, “Our experience has now prepared us to attempt further strengthening of the RTI Act by initiating some legislative changes. These would be in the nature of making the RTI Act more user friendly, trying to put more information in the public domain and removing some legal infirmities.”

“A consultation with the Chief Information Commissioners and Information from the Centre and State Commissions, has been planned for October 14 in which Civil Society organisations working in this field will also be involved in discussion stage,” he added.

Wajahat Habibullah, Chief Election Commissioner, in his welcome address said that the RTI Act has given India a model democracy and the Supreme Court has ruled that it is a part of fundamental rights under Article 19(1) of the Constitution. He further said that following the Indian law, some neighbouring countries like Nepal and Bangladesh have also moved towards freedom of information for its citizens.

Courtesy: Ministry of Home Affairs release
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8) IIP grows 10.4% in August 09

The Quick Estimates of Index of Industrial Production (IIP) with base 1993-94 for the month of August 09 grew 10.4 per cent as compared to the level in the month of August 2008. The cumulative growth for the period April-August 2009-10 stands at 5.8 per cent over the corresponding period of the pervious year.
The Indices of Industrial Production for the Mining, Manufacturing and Electricity sectors for the month of August 2009 stand at 181.1, 313.0, and 245.1 respectively, with the corresponding growth rates of 12.9%, 10.2% and 10.6% as compared to August 2008. The cumulative growth during April-August, 2009-10 over the corresponding period of 2008-09 in the three sectors have been 8.4%, 5.5% and 6.6% respectively, which moved the overall growth in the General Index to 5.8%. In terms of industries, as many as fourteen (14) out of the seventeen (17) industry groups (as per 2-digit NIC-1987) have shown positive growth during the month of August 2009 as compared to the corresponding month of the previous year. The industry group ‘Rubber, Plastic, Petroleum and Coal Products’ have shown the highest growth of 21.5%, followed by 16.4% in ‘Textile Products (including Wearing Apparel)’ and 15.7% in ‘Wool, Silk and Man-made Fibre Textiles’. On the other hand, the industry group ‘Jute and Other Vegetable Fibre Textiles (except cotton)’ have shown a negative growth of 10.2% followed by 9.6% in ‘Food Products’ and 3.6% in “Wood and Wood Products; Furniture and Fixtures”. As per Use-based classification, the Sectoral growth rates in August 2009 over August 2008 are 10.0% in Basic goods, 8.3% in Capital goods and 14.3% in Intermediate goods. The Consumer durables and Consumer non-durables have recorded growth of 22.3% and 3.7% respectively, with the overall growth in Consumer goods being 8.5%.
Courtesy: ministry of statistics and Programme implementation.