- India, Israel to set up joint R&D fund
Jerusalem, May 24 (UNI)
Indian Minister of State for Science and Technology, Kapil Sibal,
will visit Israel this week to sign an agreement establishing a
joint Research and Development fund.
The fund is being set up to encourage new investors by providing
risk-free grants to entrepreneurs from both sides and promote joint
industrial ventures, official sources said.
The fund, which is patterned on the BIRD (Bilateral Industrial Research
and Development) foundation between Israel and the US,will see an
initial contribution of $1 million from each side.
In the past decade, India has emerged as Israel's second-largest
trading partner in Asia with bilateral trade registering an impressive
growth from $ 200 million to $ 2.2 billion in 2004. Israel's exports
to India totalled $ 1.02 billion, and imports from India totalled
$ 1.12 billion.
India is the fifth country with which Israel will be setting up
such a fund. In Israel, Sibal will also participate in a workshop
'India and Israel: R&D as a strategic Bridge' being organised
by the prestigious Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, the
sources said.
The leading Israeli institute last week signed a cooperation agreement
with IIT Kharagpur on exchange and collaboration of research, faculty
and students.
Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry Kamal Nath is also likely
to visit Israel in the near future when he and his Israeli counterpart,
Ehud Olmert, will be resented with the findings of the Joint Study
Group, which was set up during Olmert's visit to India in December
last year.
Kamal Nath had set up a target of $ 5 billion bilateral trade between
the two countries in the next three years during the visit.
Around 100 Israeli companies currently operate in India. They include
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd, Comverse Technology,Gilat
Satellite Networks and NICE Systems. Israeli and Indian companies
also have 150 agreements for manufacturing Israeli products in India.
- AGREEMENT BETWEEN ISRO AND ITALIAN SPACE
AGENCY
17:42 IST http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=9504
The Union Cabinet today gave its approval to the Agreement between
the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and the Agenzia Spaziale
Italiana (ASI) of Italy on Cooperation in Space Science, Technology
and Applications. The Agreement was signed in the presence of the
Prime Minister of India and the President of Italy on February 14,
2005.
The objective of the Agreement is to identify the specific areas
of joint activities between the two space agencies. The Agreement
identifies three main areas having strong potential for joint programmes
in Earth Observation, Space Science and Aeronautics.
- India, Canada to sign pact on Science and
Technology:-
http://news.webindia123.com/news/showdetails.asp?id=83917&cat=India
New Delhi | May 26, 2005 9:27:25 PM IST
India and Canada will sign a comprehensive agreement on science
and technology later this year to give a boost to the research activities
taking place in both the countries and to help the transfer of technologies
from laboratories to the market place.
Announcing this at a joint press conference with the Minister of
Science and Technology, Kapil Sibal, here today, the Canadian High
Commissioner to India, Ms. Lucie Edwards said that her country is
going to sign such an 'umbrella agreement' with any country for
the first time in last 25 years.
She said, the agreement will encompass a wide range of areas from
research to design, production, innovation and close interaction
between the academia and the industry.
According to a press release, the collaborations this year will
focus on five themes- Earth Sciences and Disaster Mitigation keeping
in view the Great Tsunami event of December 24, 2004; nvironmental
and Climate Change Technologies and Alternative Fuels, Information
and Communications Technology, Nano-technology and Nano-science;
Biotechnology, Health Research and Medical Devices.
She also disclosed that the recently released Canadian International
Policy Statement "paid significant attention to India as well
as Science and Technology and suggested key initiatives to support
partnerships in this sector with key markets, like India".
Sibal announced that Canada will be the partner country in this
year's Technology Summit and Technology Platform to be held in New
Delhi during September 21-22 and jointly hosted by the Confederation
of Indian Industry (CII) and the Department of Science and Technology.
He said that some of the best research institutions of Canada will
participate at this summit and seek partnerships with Indian organisations.
Shri. Sibal said that in this era of globalisation, the role of
the Government is increasingly changing from that of a regulator
to a facilitator.
Shri. Sibal felicitated four young innovators who have just returned
from Malaysia after creating waves at the prestigious International
Exhibition for Young Inventors organised by Malaysian Industrial
Design Society (MINDS) in Kuala Lumpur from May 19-21, 2005.The
young innovators are Vindhya Revathi Vyjayanti, Raghavendra G, Kunal
Gaurav and Arpith. Vindhya R. Vyjayanthi was also given a special
award by Japan Institute of Invention and Innovation for the most
outstanding work displayed at the exhibition for her project on
'Co-relation of the radii of in-circle and circum-circle'. (ANI)
- Viet Nam, India promote scientific cooperation
New Delhi 05/21/2005 -- 21:12(GMT+7)
New Delhi (VNA) - The 6th session of the Viet Nam-India Joint Committee
for Scientific and Technological Cooperation was held in New Delhi
from May 19-20.
The Vietnamese delegation was led by Deputy Minister of Science
and Technology and Co-chairman of the Committee, Dr. Le Dinh Tien;
and the Indian delegation, by Deputy Minister of Science and Technology
and Co-Chairman of the Committee, Prof. V.S. Ramamuthy.
The two sides reviewed their scientific and technological cooperation
in the 2003-2004 period and signed a cooperation programme for the
2005-2007 period. They agreed to expand research into agricultural
biotechnology for application to farming techniques on drought-stricken
land, and hybrid rice.
The Vietnamese side requested that India help restore the herd of
breeding goats that the Indian government had presented to Viet
Nam. The two countries also discussed measures to develop cooperation
in the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
The two sides agreed on the need to increase exchanges of scientists
and information through the media. Viet Nam expressed its hope that
India would provide assistance to Viet Nam in information technology
and biotechnology according to the resolution of the 12th meeting
of the intergovernmental committee signed in 2004.
During his stay in India, Deputy Minister Tien visited a number
of IT and biotechnology establishments.-Enditem
- CSIR gets deemed university status:-
New Delhi | May 26, 2005 9:24:59 PM IST
http://news.webindia123.com/news/showdetails.asp?id=83915&cat=India
The University Grants Commission today in principle granted deemed
university status to the Council of Science and Industrial Research
(CSIR).
"The UGC in principle has granted deemed university status
to CSIR which, with a large number of laboratories and field trial
centres, would give a tremendous boost to research based education
in all fields except atomic research," Science and Technology
Minister Kapil Sibal said.
CSIR is the world's largest public funded research organisation.
It would have to complete the requirements prescribed by the Commission
to get the status formally.
The Council boasts of a countrywide network of 38 laboratories and
80 field centres and is a pioneer in the filed of fundamental and
applied Research and evelopment projects all across the country.
It also has several success stories in the country's march to new
heights in the field of science and technology. (ANI)
- Toyota Kirloskar Motor is planning to set
up a new plant in north India in a bid to expand its presence
May 23, 2005
Toyota is expanding in India and is bullish on Indian prospects.
Sources says Toyota expects India to become one of the largest Auto
market in the next twenty years. They even predict India may exceed
China and parallel to some extent US market in that time frame.
Toyota Kirloskarýs existing plant in Bidadi near Bangalore,
which can roll out 60,000 cars a year, is today running at full
capacity, the newspaper noted.
The availability of skilled and manageable labour, tax sops offered
by some northern states like Uttaranchal and Himachal Pradesh and
access to the larger car market in the region are some of the reasons
cited for the move, the report said.
Toyota Kirloskar is expected to build on its volume through the
launch new models in the volume segment, which today accounts for
over 50 pct of the Indian passenger vehicle market, it said.
Toyota Kirloskarýs management had said the company is eyeing
10 pct, or 200,000 units, of the two million units passenger vehicle
market in India by 2010. Toyota's current market share in India
is estimated at less than 5 pct.
The report said that Toyotaýs subsidiary Daihatsu, which
specialises in compact cars, is also expected to bring its products
to India.
- Setting the stage for China's tech future
http://news.com.com/Setting+the+stage+for+Chinas+tech+future/2100-7337_3-5720676.html
May 30, 2005, 6:00 AM PDT
Technology companies collaborate with academic researchers all the
time.
So the fact that Intel's recently introduced Pentium Extreme Edition
chip boasts an ultrafast compiler that resulted from a research
partnership with a major university isn't so surprising.
What is a bit of an eye-opener-—at least for people who haven't
paid close attention to corporate R&D trends—-is the identity
of Intel's academic partner: not Stanford, MIT or Cambridge, but
Tsinghua University in Beijing.
Twenty years ago, China was still struggling to address the grave
damage Mao's Cultural Revolution did to its universities and population
of professors. A decade later, when big Western technology companies
began setting up research facilities there (Motorola was first,
in 1993, followed soon after by IBM, Intel and Microsoft), they
were seeking favor with the government, not technical innovations.
Even today, the bulk of the R&D work those companies do in China
is more development than research, more about tailoring technologies
for the vast local market than finding globally applicable breakthroughs.
But the research the multinationals do in China is steadily becoming
more sophisticated, and China's invigorated universities are playing
a prominent role in it-—even as corporate leaders such as Microsoft's
Bill Gates complain that the U.S. educational system isn't producing
the engineers and scientists their companies need.
Tsinghua, often referred to as "the MIT of China," is
generally acknowledged as the leader in R&D projects with foreign
companies. With good reason: It ranks at or near the top of the
field in China in a wide array of tech disciplines, including computer
architecture, communications and software.
- Outsourcing of tutorial services; the next
wave:-
http://news.webindia123.com/news/showdetails.asp?id=83308&n_date=20050523&cat=business
Bangalore | May 23, 2005 3:23:45 PM IST
If you think that outsourcing is there only in high-tech industry,
think again. Now the outsourcing of educational especially tutorial
services is a rising business.
According to a report in the Christian Science Monitor newspaper,
"It's a phenomenon that some hail as a triumph of technology,
a boon for science-starved American students and the latest demonstration
that globalization is levelling the playing field, particularly
when it comes to intellectual capital.
Skilled manpower in India is a major attraction for foreign entrepreneurs
to set up operations. Now, Indian entrepreneurs are latching on
to the very people who give India its skilled manpower - namely,
skilled teachers.
Tuitions outsourcing is an opportunity that beckons India. Several
countries are turning to providers who directly, or through their
Indian arm, employ teachers for tutoring through the Internet.
As the teachers in India and other developing countries are ready
to work at a far less price than their United States counterparts,
several US tutorial schools have began to outsource their services
to the place where cost is less.
India offers an attracive destination for this business. It has
two advantage first a vast pool of english speaking people and a
large number of math and engineering graduates who are not getting
good jobs are ready to work at far less price. It has made India
an attractive resource for some US tutoring firms.
Tutors in the cities like New Delhi or Bangalore are already helping
kids in Colorado and California over the Internet. Some contract
with big-name US tutoring companies, such as Sylvan Online, while
others work directly with schools and students.
A New Delhi based firm, which also serves students in the Middle
East, tutors about 1,500 American students in math alone.
Education is an emerging market in the United States. It is pegged
at about 800 billion dollars. Analysts estimate the market for tutoring
for competitive examinations in the US at $20 billion.
Various education processes are being outsourced even within the
US.
The billing rate for a US education service provider (ESP) is about
25 dollars an hour, while in India it is 12 dollars. Considering
that the cost to Indian service providers is only about eight to
nine dollars an hour, there is a whopping 22-25 per cent margin
for the Indian players.
The delivery model is simple and user-friendly. Under this process
students are allotted windows that they log into at scheduled timings.
Both the teacher and the student view the same screen and communicate
with each other.
The opportunities for the tutorial outsourcing are outside the United
States too. Indian immigrants in the US and other countries are
the main customers of the service.
- India races into space
By Siddharth Srivastava NEW DELHI - India recently successfully
placed its 11th remote-sensing satellite Cartosat-1 into orbit -
blasted into space by a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) -
stretching further its record to 12 launches, including broadcast
satellites, without any failure, though there have been glitches.
The stage is now set for the Indian Space Research Organization
(ISRO), run by the government, to carry out a fully fledged commercial
launch, with a little help from the US, by the removal of sanctions
on dual-use technologies. India considers its missile, space and
nuclear programs as closely inter-linked, with nuclear deterrence
against Pakistan and China and benefits to the people through satellite
technology and nuclear energy being critical factors.
But first, the significance of the satellite launch. The latest
launch, carried out from a newly built second launch pad with an
estimated cost of US$100 million, will provide the flexibility that
exists with the Space Shuttle of the US and Europe's Ariane rockets.
Indian launchers can now be assembled on a mobile platform in a
separate work area and then transferred to the pad just days before
launch. With this arrangement, one rocket can be at the pad while
another is being commissioned. This was also the first time that
the ISRO had launched two satellites in a single flight from Sriharikota
(near the city of Chennai, in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu),
the other on this occasion being the much smaller Hamsat for amateur
radio broadcasts.
The launch "reaffirms the emergence of India as a major space
power", Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told parliament in New
Delhi. India has committed to sending a probe to the moon in two
or three years, but its space program has been mainly aimed at harnessing
high technology for the masses.
While India's space program, largely developed by indigenous scientists
with help from European partners and the US earlier, deserves kudos,
similar technology is being used to build synergies into another
arena - India has also announced that it will test-fire its longest
range (3,000 kilometers) surface-to-surface missile, Agni III, capable
of delivering nuclear payloads, by the end of the year. This range
effectively covers China and Pakistan, unlike the earlier two versions.
The development of India's missile program is a contravention of
missile control and test-ban treaties, which India opposes as being
biased toward major powers.
India's Agni project, which was launched in the late 1980s, has
been under the US microscope, with the country using every persuasive
power, including sanctions, to delay it. Indeed, progress in missile
technology has happened concomitantly with the strides in space
research as the motors used in the launch vehicles of satellites
have been incorporated into missiles.
ISRO is developing two categories of rocket - the PSLVs are designed
for earth observation and scientific missions, such as Cartosat-1,
and the forthcoming Chandrayaan moon mission. The larger Geosynchronous
Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) carry communications satellites
into geostationary orbit 36,000 kilometers above the earth, at which
height they can "hover" over the same place. The GSLV
motors form the critical stages of operations of the long-range
Agni. Keeping India's interest in overcoming hurdles in procuring
dual-use technologies, by getting US export control procedures simplified,
the Indian parliament recently passed the Weapons of Mass Destruction
and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities)
bill, which the government has emphasized does not "in any
manner constrict" India's nuclear program, either strategic
or civilian.
The nuclear bill is important in light of India's emergence as a
"nuclear state", and meets the country's commitments under
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1540 passed in April
2004.
"For us, nuclear energy is an important means to address this
challenge [energy security]. As such, we intend to maintain and
expand our indigenous nuclear power program. This would also ease
the strain on conventional energy supplies globally. Since India's
record in non-proliferation is impeccable and acknowledged to be
so internationally, the current restrictions on cooperation in nuclear
power production with India have become anachronistic and counter-productive,"
Manmohan said in parliament recently.
The US, too, has had a change in strategy and has agreed to cooperate
with India on nuclear energy, given India's record as a "responsible"
nuclear power nation after successfully testing nuclear weapons
in May 1998, unlike Pakistan, which has been accused of systematically
peddling nuclear technology. India has not signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty as it feels that the agreement is biased toward the possessors
of nuclear weapons.
Indeed, in the arena of space, too, many feel that the time is ripe
for India to embark on a government-led campaign to win launch orders
from other countries by putting in competitive bids, especially
to developing countries. As in several other fields, India can follow
the lead taken by China, which has joined hands with Brazil and
which won an order last year to build and launch a communications
satellite for Nigeria. Russia, the US and Europe continue to lead
the world in space launches, followed by China.
In the past decade, the ISRO has launched eight PSLVs and three
GSLVs without encountering any failure. Cartosat-1 is the 12th successful
consecutive launch in 12 successive years. Cartosat-1 will join
what is already the world's largest cluster of non-military remote-sensing
satellites. Six Indian spacecraft are already observing the earth
with a wide range of instruments. The INSAT series of satellites
has given 90% of the population access to satellite television.
The most recent launch in September last year was Edusat, used for
building a distant-learning network.
Indian launch vehicles are not yet powerful enough for India's heaviest
satellites, which have been launched on Europe's Ariane. But the
ISRO plans to become self-sufficient in this sector from 2008, when
its GLSV-3 launcher is due to be ready.
Last year, the ISRO won a $10 million contract to launch its first
satellite for the European Union. Four satellites of Germany, South
Korea and Belgium have been launched by the ISRO, which is set to
launch an Italian satellite, Agile, early next year. India may launch
Russian satellites for a global navigational system next year, a
Russian space chief said earlier this month. India will send an
Indonesian micro-satellite into space on an indigenous launch rocket
by early 2006. The target is to garner a 10% share of all commercial
space launches in the world in the next five years.
Space, nuclear energy, nuclear deterrence, it is always treading
a fine line.
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