Think India Foundation

Local content norms for solar projects ineffective: First Solar

NEW DELHI : Emphasising that local content requirements for solar projects are “ineffective”, solar gear maker First Solar has said creating a transparent market with significant demand is the best way to promote local industry.

The comments from US-headquartered First Solar come against the backdrop of the US dragging India to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) over alleged discrimination by New Delhi’s national solar mission against American products. Read more

Source : www.thehindubusinessline.com

ISS to join hands with US society to harness solar power in space

Chandigarh : The global electricity demand is expected to increase by 87 per cent around 2035. It is believed that by 2050 the world may not be able to fulfill its overall energy requirements in spite of using every available energy resource. In such a scenario, Space-Based Solar Power (SBSP) can be seen as a future energy source.

To make this a reality, International Space Society (ISS), India is going to collaborate with National Space Society (NSS), USA, to promote an international consensus on Space-Based Solar Power. Read more

Source : www.indianexpress.com

American Business Centre launched in Patna

PATNA: US ambassador to India, Nancy J Powell here on Monday launched American Business Centre (ABC) which, she said, would act as a virtual incubator for stronger US-India business relationship. This would help Bihari entrepreneurs access technology and other information.

The ABC will function from the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) office here. It will act as a clearing house to connect Bihar-based companies with US-based companies with dissemination of catalogues of US products to potential buyers. ABC will also arrange workshops, including one on cold chain logistics programme. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Plants being used as alternate source to generate electricity

Washington: Researchers led by an Indian origin professor at the University of Georgia are developing a new technology that will make it possible for plants to generate electricity. "Clean energy is the need of the century," Ramaraja Ramasamy, assistant professor in the UGA College of Engineering and the corresponding author of the paper said. 

"This approach may one day transform our ability to generate cleaner power from sunlight using plant-based systems," he said. Read more

Source : zeenews.india.com

India refuses to commit on duty waiver for industrial goods in select sectors

NEW DELHI : India has refused to commit to the complete elimination of duty on industrial goods in specific sectors. Some of the major developed countries want developing nations such as India, China and Brazil to undertake complete duty elimination in specific sectors such as electronic products, chemicals and industrial machinery. “India has reservations on account of the effect of such a commitment on sectors and products, which are critical for employment generation and economic growth. There is also a proposal to eliminate tariffs on a list of environmental goods, which has not been supported by India and some other developing countries,” Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, D. Purandeswari informed Parliament in a written reply.

She said India had raised concerns relating to the unfair trade practices and policies being followed by the U.S. Read more

Source : www.thehindu.com

Miffed India writes to US

Calls proposed amendment discriminatory against Indian IT companies

New Delhi : In a fresh row over the US' H-1B and L-1 visas for Indian professionals, the government has slammed that country, terming its newly-proposed immigration reform plan "discriminatory" against Indian information technology (IT) firms.

In a strongly-worded letter to new US Trade Representative Michael Froman, Commerce Secretary S R Rao has voiced the concerns of India, which feels the proposed law is protectionist in nature and against healthy competition. The letter also alleges the new Bill, called the H-1B and L-1 Visa Reform Act of 2013 and put forward by a bipartisan group of Senators to overhaul the US immigration system, is "entirely targeted against Indian IT firms" and this "does not serve any purpose for the US". Read more

Source : www.business-standard.com

'Technology, economy and energy new drivers of India-US ties'

Washington : With the cooperation between India and the US bilateral issues remaining on track, aspects like technology and energy have become new driving forces in the ties between two countries, Indian Ambassador to the US Nirupama Rao has said. 

Rao, while addressing an audience, here, expressed hope that the Obama Administration would soon give approval for the export of US natural gas to India. Read more

Source : www.business-standard.com

U.P. state legislators’ delegation drops US from tour plan

Lucknow : After Urban Development Minister Azam Khan's run-in with the authorities at Logan airport in Boston in the US, the Commonwealth Parliamentary Delegation from the state has dropped US from their itinerary.

The 22-member delegation, comprising members from both houses of the legislature and headed by Speaker Mata Prasad Pandey, was to leave on a tour of the US, London and Istanbul on May 21. Read more

Source : www.indianexpress.com

Exporting VIP culture

Azam Khan's immature response to US' questions

Some sort of VIP culture exists everywhere. India's, however, is unique in its pervasiveness and its arrogance. And, while unique, it isn't really something that can be exported. Witness the outrage of Azam Khan, urban development minister in the Uttar Pradesh government and senior leader of the ruling Samajwadi Party, at being taken aside at Boston's Logan Airport to be asked a few questions. By all accounts, the questioning was formal and dry, the female officer asking the questions limiting it to 10 minutes. However, Mr Khan apparently lost his temper nevertheless, accusing the officer of profiling him on the basis of his religion. While anger caused by the irritation of the moment is perhaps excusable, neither Mr Khan nor the Samajwadi Party seems to be willing to let saner counsel prevail subsequently. Both he and his boss, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, have refused to appear at a function organised by Harvard students to discuss the resounding success of the Mahakumbh Mela in Allahabad, the formidable organisation of which was largely run by Mr Khan. Mr Yadav, in high dudgeon, has also forced the cancellation of a reception in his honour by a local Indian consulate.

There are several ways in which this is problematic. India's VIPs are accustomed to being treated with kid gloves, after all - Mr Khan made headlines in December when he was accused of abusing and perhaps physically assaulting a railway worker because he felt the bedrolls he had been provided on the Punjab Mail were insufficiently clean for a person of his importance. Read more

Source : www.business-standard.com

Akhilesh, Azam Khan boycott Harvard event

Lucknow : To protest against the alleged misbehaviour with Uttar Pradesh Urban Development Minister Azam Khan at Logan International Airport at Boston, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and Khan on Friday boycotted an event at Harvard University for which they had gone to the US. Instead, state government officials, led by Chief Secretary Jawed Usmani, attended the function and made the presentation on Kumbh Mela.

Afaq Ahmed, Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to Khan, said, "We are not attending the Harvard University function. We are very much disturbed due to the incident at the airport. Our minister was humiliated. It is an insult.'' Read more

Source : www.indianexpress.com

India's wind energy output up 1250% in a decade: Report

Mumbai : India has aggressive renewable energy targets and industry energy efficiency policies. But it faces significant infrastructure challenges which may derail otherwise good policy. 

This is mentioned in a report on the country’s national climate policy by Climate Policy Initiative, a US-based global policy effectiveness analysis and advisory organisation. Read more

Source : www.dnaindia.com

US visa reforms to help skilled IT professionals

Reggie Aggarwal is the founder and CEO of Cvent, an online event management company co-located out of Washington, DC and Gurgaon. With about 60 of the top engineering positions in his US operations lying vacant, Aggarwal has a problem.  

There is a clear bias towards skilled immigration and moves away from the current family- and lottery-based principles.

"We need guys with deep engineering knowledge and every tech employer, from Fortune 500 companies to small start-ups in the US, knows that there's a huge shortage of such people in America," says the Cvent founder. "Like all other tech CEOs, I know there is a huge talent pool of such engineers in India," adds Aggarwal whose operations in Gurgaon employ around 650 such people. Even in the US, Indians form the largest part of Cvent's 550-strong workforce. Read more 

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Now, India takes US to WTO over green energy

US had made similar complaint against India in February

Two months after it was taken to the World Trade Organization by the US government on the renewable energy (RE) sector, the Indian government has done likewise.

It has made a complaint to WTO’s dispute settlement body, alleging the US, both at the federal and state levels, is offering subsidy programmes in the sector for local content requirements, making the entry of Indian companies difficult and breaching global trading rules. Read more

Source : www.business-standard.com

Some solar projects may escape local content rule

Govt plans two project categories to appease US

All approvals are in place to rollout grid-connected projects.

NEW DELHI : The Ministry for New and Renewable Energy proposes to have two categories of projects under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission — one with mandated domestic content and the other allowing use of imported equipment.

To participate in the National Solar Mission, developers have to buy solar cells and modules from domestic manufacturers and sign power purchase agreements with power plants under the mission. Read more

Source : www.thehindubusinessline.com

Jamia Millia Islamia team selected in NASA's research programme

NEW DELHI: As part of the national aeronautic and space administration's (NASA) interdisciplinary research in earth science programme - impacts of urbanisation on the environment solicitation, nine projects have been approved for funding. One of the teams to receive funding has Atiqur Rehman, reader, department of geography, Jamia Millia Islamia, as its member. 

The project is led by Soe Myint from Arizona State University and the other members of the project are from Yale, North Carolina and Arizona universities. Rehman is the only Indian representative on board. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

India seeks more US visas for its high-skilled workers

WASHINGTON: As the US moves forward to reform its immigration system, India has said that a generous American visa policy for the country's high-skilled workers would help everyone and both nations will emerge as winners. 

"We respectfully urge that they consider the impact of their decisions on the ability of both US and foreign-based companies to expand now and in the future," Indian Ambassador to the US Nirupama Rao wrote in an opinion piece in the 'USA Today'. Read more

Source : economictimes.indiatimes.com

Developing countries struggling to bridge digital divide: Study

WASHINGTON: Most developing countries are still struggling to bridge the " digital divide" limiting access to computers and the internet for low-income citizens, a study showed.  

 

The study for the World Economic Forum placed Finland at the top of its "networked readiness index" which measures a country's ability to make use of information technology for growth and well-being. Read more 

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

H-1B lottery leaves 39,000 out of luck, shortage to hit Indian firms

New York: For the first time since the financial meltdown in 2008, the US government conducted a lottery selection process on Sunday to award H-1B visas to Indian and other highly-skilled foreign workers.

Immigration officials will begin notifying winners and losers next week. Reuters

After being swamped with 124,000 applications in five days, but having only 85,000 visas to give, US Citizenship and Immigration Services ran two computer-generated lotteries on Sunday to award the available visas. Read more

Source : www.firstpost.com

Calcium overuse can up heart attack risk: Study

MUMBAI: In a country where bone-related problems are as serious a health issue as heart attacks, a new medical debate is emerging over calcium pills. A fresh research from the US states that popping calcium pills may increase the patient's chances of dying of heart problems. The message: Don't ignore calcium supplements but be judicious in their intake.  

Calcium is the most common element in the human body and is needed for practically most functions – make the muscles move, help the nerves transmit or keep bones strong

Senior heart surgeon Dr Ramakant Panda is convinced that India needs to rethink its calcium-popping ways. "The study is relevant in the Indian context, too. Unnecessary calcium supplementation should be avoided at all costs, unless there's a clear indication of deficiency ascertained by a bone scan or other vitamin deficiencies," he said. Read more 

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

MIT seeks collaboration with India to solve complex problems

MUMBAI: Dr L Rafael Reif, President,Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) addressed the session titled "MIT: An Instrument for Inventing the Future" in Mumbai. While speaking at the session organized by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), which was well attended by captains of the Indian Industry, MIT alumni and academia from across the State, Dr Reif mentioned that through the work of individual faculty and the life work of countless MIT graduates, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has had a long significant global impact. 

He emphasized that the increasing breadth and intensity of MIT's global engagements, including ambitious research programs focused on global issues like poverty, water, health and online learning and Institute-level collaborations with nations developing their own innovation hubs. He opined that innovation and technology in education would be the key driver for developing academic institutes in the 21st century. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

India to host 4th Clean Energy Ministerial meeting in April

NEW DELHI : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will inaugurate the 4th Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) meeting on April 17 which among other things would assess the steps being undertaken by various countries to pursue green initiatives.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will inaugurate the 4th Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) meeting on April 17.

Energy ministers from 23 countries, including US Energy Secretary Steven Chu, will come together in the national capital from April 16 to 18 to review the progress of clean energy initiatives, an official statement said. Read more

Source : www.thehindu.com

10 million Indians want to move to US: Poll

WASHINGTON: More than 100 million people from across the world, including 10 million from India, would like to move permanently to the US, which remains the most popular global destination, according to a latest opinion poll. 

 

Potential migrants who would like to move to the US are logically the most likely to come from some of the most populous countries in the world, the Gallup poll said. Read more 

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

H-1B visas may double: Report

WASHINGTON: The number of H-1B visas issued by the US could double under a proposed Senate immigration plan which would also remove the cap on the green card, a move likely to benefit Indian-American technology professionals but not the Indian companies.  

US visas for high-skilled foreign workers, including those from India, could double under a bipartisan Senate immigration plan.

The Senate immigration plan would dramatically increase the number of high-skilled foreign workers allowed into the country and give permanent legal status to an unlimited number of students who earn graduate degrees from US universities in science, technology, engineering or math, Washington Post reported quoting people familiar with the negotiations. Read more 

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

The Rise Of Solar Power And Wind Energy

While ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has said the oil sector risks future credit downgrades, the news from the renewables energy market points to a much more promising future for solar and wind.

One of the big plants that began producing power in 2012: Mesquite Solar 1, in Arizona (image via Sempra)

When agencies like S&P reflect on what the consequences could be if governments adopt carbon-constraining policies to avert catastrophic climate change, it’s a sure sign that the oil industry and its investors are starting to worry. Read more

Source : www.earthtechling.com

50% rise in US visas issued to Indian students in 2012

NEW DELHI: Getting an American university degree is back on the popularity charts following a two-year dip. Latest data shows an increase of 50% in visas issued to Indian students since last year. Incidentally, this could finally buck the trend for the last two years. There are about 100,270 students currently studying in the United States.

According to the US consulate services, 5600 student visas have been issued in India between October 2012-February 2013 marking a 50% increase since last year.

According to the US consulate services, 5600 student visas have been issued in India between October 2012-February 2013 marking a 50% increase since last year. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

U.S. groups criticize India drug, tech, farm policies

(Reuters) - U.S. industry groups on Wednesday called for the United States to increase pressure on India to reform high-tech, agricultural and pharmaceutical policies they said block U.S. exports and damage patent rights.

The entrance of Pfizer World headquaters in New York City, August 31, 2003.

Credit: Reuters/Jeff Christensen/Files

"India has essentially created a protectionist regime that harms U.S. job creators" in favor of the country's generic drug manufacturers, Roy Waldron, chief intellectual property counsel for Pfizer (PFE.N), said in testimony to the House of Representative Ways and Means trade subcommittee. Read more

Source : in.reuters.com

U.S. Challenges India's Solar Energy Incentives at WTO: What's at Stake

The transition to a clean energy economy is imperative not only to tackle the climate crisis, but also to spur development through new economic opportunities, new investment, and the creation of new green jobs. In seeking to capture these benefits, however, governments are increasingly turning to trade rules to challenge one others' domestic renewable energy industries, thereby undermining the global clean energy transition we all seek. Put simply, all governments must have the ability to develop domestic renewable energy industries to fight climate change and the entrenched fossil fuel industry behind the crisis.

In the most recent example, the United States has filed a case at the World Trade Organization (WTO) to challenge India's use of subsidies and "buy local" rules in its domestic solar program. This case exemplifies the misguided and harmful impacts of these challenges. It is particularly important because of India's potential as one of the world's largest solar markets and because of the local and global benefits to India's transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable energy. Read more

Source : www.huffingtonpost.com

US extends two child projects in India

Mumbai : The US has announced extension of two of its flagship projects on child survival in India by pledging financial support, an official said here Wednesday.

Integrated maternal and child health project (MCHIP) and health of urban poor project (HUP) have been pledged support, said visiting US Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Rajiv Shah. Read more

Source : twocircles.net

India headed for economic doom, prominent US thinktank says

NEW DELHI: India is heading straight for economic failure post-Chidambaram's budget as a direct result of the lack of meaningful economic reform, says Heritage Foundation, an important conservative thinktank in the US. Assessing finance minister, P Chidambaram's budget, Derek Scissors of the Washington-based organization said that it "leaves India on the same, failing course it's been on of undisciplined spending and unrealistic expectations".

 

The Indian economy is in dire health, he said, not only because Indians' incomes have stagnated, income growth slowed and consumer inflation is high, but because manufacturing that should lead the Indian economy that would create jobs for the swelling ranks of young Indians is refusing to take off. Read more 

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Urbanisation cutting off sunlight

Urbanisation is cutting off people from adequate sunlight — which helps the skin produce vitamin D and facilitates calcium absorption by the body, a new study has claimed.

As people move more often and become more urbanised, skin colour — an adaptation that took hundreds of thousands of years to develop in humans — may lose some of its evolutionary advantage, according to Nina Jablonski, a Penn State anthropologist. Read more

Source : www.deccanherald.com

India outclasses US in GMAT scores

BANGALORE: India has reasons to cheer when it comes to GMAT, one of the world's most popular exams for MBA. One, the ever-rising number of women taking the exam; and, two, one of the highest GMAT scores in the past five years. 

Belgium (597), Argentina (595), Australia (598), Hungary (585), South Korea (586) and Britain (587) have a better GMAT score than India’s. However, the US is far behind with 533.

The number of women seeking admission to MBA courses globally has seen a significant jump in the past few years, making them almost 43% of the total candidates. This is true in India too, with the number of women taking GMAT going up to 7,812 from 6,714 five years ago, says "The profile of GMAT Candidates: 2007-08 to 2011-12", released by the Graduate Management Admission Council, the testing agency. Read more 

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Harvard doctors give Kumbh health facilities thumbs up

MUMBAI: The first verdict from the international health experts at the Kumbh Mela to record diseases among pilgrims has been positive. 

 

The research team (from left ) Logan Plaster, Michael Vortmann, Dr Dhruv Kazi and Dr Satchit Balsari.

The team comprising mainly medical doctors from Harvard University in Massachusetts, USA, is "largely impressed" with the orderliness of the Mela and the lack of any major disease outbreak. Read more 

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Indian response to US charges on solar policy in 10 days

NEW DELHI: India will respond within 10 days to WTO on US complaint that alleges discrimination by New Delhi's national solar mission against American products. 

"...the US has sought a consultation in respect to domestic content policy of National Solar Mission. According to the laid-down procedure, India has to respond within 10 days. We have received the notice and will respond within the prescribed time period," Additional Secretary in the Commerce Ministry Rajeev Kher said in a statement. Read more

Source : economictimes.indiatimes.com

US challenges India at WTO over solar panel rules

The United States took the first step towards a full-blown trade dispute with India Wednesday on the solar power sector, the World Trade Organisation said.

A WTO statement said that Washington had requested consultations over what it claims is unfair support for India's solar cell and solar panel producers. Read more

Source : www.globalpost.com

Top Indian IT firms to triple direct hiring in US by 2016: Gartner

Firms will also significantly increase their presence in European markets

 The US and Europe account for about 80% of the market for India’s top information technology (IT) firms. Photo: Hemant Mishra/Mint

Chennai: India’s top software service companies will triple direct hiring in the US by 2016 while also significantly increasing their presence in European markets, technology researcher Gartner Inc.said in a report released Friday.

“We estimate that top Indian information technology companies’ onsite recruitment currently in the US to be about 18,000, and we expect this to triple in the next three years,” said Partha Iyengar, vice-president and regional research director-India for Gartner India Research and Advisory Services Pvt. Ltd. Read more

Source : www.livemint.com

240,000 illegal Indian immigrants on path to citizenship in US

WASHINGTON: Over 240,000 illegal Indian immigrants in the US could be soon on their path to obtaining citizenship under a "big deal" reached by a bi-partisan group of influential Senators but uncertainty remains for the tens of thousands of highly skilled Indians seeking a Green Card. 

India has registered quite an increase in illegal immigrants, which was about 120,000 in 2000, said the report of the Department of Homeland Security.

Described by the White House as a "big deal", the compromise announced by the group of top eight Senators proposes a path to citizenship for 11.5 million illegal immigrants of which more than three-fourths (77 per cent or 8.9 million) are from North America, including Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America. Read more

Source : economictimes.indiatimes.com

US-India analyse urban water efficiency

New Delhi (IBNS) : The United States and India on Monday conducted a national consultation on water efficiency in urban areas.

This consultation marked the culmination of the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Water Analysis, Innovations, and Systems Program (WAISP) to increase access to safe drinking water and sanitation services. Read more

Source : www.indiablooms.com

Safer, more effective vaccine delivery designed

WASHINGTON: Researchers have designed a new type of vaccine delivery that holds promise for improving the effectiveness of DNA vaccines, besides being painless.

About 20 years ago, DNA coding for viral proteins was found to induce strong immune responses in rodents, but so far, tests in humans have failed to duplicate that success. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Foreigners pick up brooms, sweep Panaji streets

PANAJI: On a winter morning last December, passersby and motorists were surprised to see two foreigners sweeping the streets of Sao Tome in Panaji. US national Amalia Mora and Dutch national Jeroen Gevers held brooms in their hands as they went about clearing the streets littered with garbage on December 16 from 9 am to 3 pm.

US national Amalia Mora and Dutch national Jeroen Gevers held brooms in their hands as they went about clearing the streets littered with garbage on December 16 from 9 am to 3 pm.

"I love Panaji. Besides, there's absolutely nothing dishonourable in keeping your streets clean. It's nothing to be ashamed about," Mora, 30, from California, Los Angeles said. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Amex stops giving fresh work to Indian IT firms

Amex’s decision hints at a larger symptom of banks and financial services firms spending lower on IT

Traditionally, banks and financial services companies like Amex, Citigroup Inc. and JP Morgan Chase and Co. have been large spenders on IT, accounting for more than a quarter of the revenues of India’s top technology firms.

Bangalore: American Express Co. (Amex), which outsources projects worth nearly $1 billion (around Rs.5,500 crore) a year to India, has stopped giving fresh work to its software vendors in the country, depriving them of millions of dollars in revenue in the December quarter.

The US credit card firm halted projects from 21 November, askingTata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS), Infosys Ltd, Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. and Syntel Inc. to wait till 31 December for clarity, said executives at the software exporters. The firms have so far lost six weeks of billed work. Read more

Source : www.livemint.com

Indian IT firms show they create jobs in the US, too

After anti-offshoring backlash, Infosys, Wipro reskill workers, offer jobs in attempt to change image

Detroit’s Wayne County Community College District, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation partnered with Infosys for retraining unemployed workers in the city.

Bangalore: Sam Blue, 49, an automobile insurance salesman who lost his job in September 2011, and Elantis Hall, a single mother of four children, attended a software bootcamp organized by Infosys Ltd , India’s second largest computer services company, in Detroit, the hub of the American auto industry, in 2012.

Blue and Hall were among 27 out of 73 people—average age 41—who attended the camp and were offered information technology jobs in Detroit in a year the city’s big three auto makers Ford Motor Co., General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC were still struggling for recovery after slashing thousands of jobs over three years. Read more

Source : www.livemint.com

GOI officials attend training in smart grid technology in USA

MUMBAI: Over 15 Indian government officials attended a training and study tour organised by the U.S. Government through the United States Agency for International Development ( USAID) on the use of Smart Grid technology in the power sector to reduce power loss, manage peak load and integrate renewable energy to meet the growing demand for power.

Smart Grid refers to the use of state-of-the-art information and communication technology to improve the efficiency, reliability, cost-effectiveness, and sustainability of the production and distribution of electricity and 17 senior officials of government of India participated in the study tour, a release issued said. The group of officials from the Ministry of Power, Power Grid Corporation, Renewable Energy Corporation, and several state utilities in India attended classroom sessions and visited American power utilities. The delegation also observed the simulation of an entire grid operation in a Smart Grid-enabled environment and learned about real-time digital simulation of power systems, Direct Current distribution, and home energy management and efficiency. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Road repair advice from US to Mamata

KOLKATA: The Mamata Banerjee government has received a piece of the US mind on the bad state of the city's roads.

Last week, the American Consul General Dean R Thompson in the city has wrote to chief secretary Sanjay Mitra urging the state government to improve the condition of the stretch at Bantala since it was being seen as a major hurdle to the expansion plans of Cognizant Technology, an IT company located in the Leather Complex at Bantala. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Hollywood studios showing interest in West Bengal film city

Hollywood studios are showing interest in developing the two state-of-the-art film cities planned in West Bengal, Finance Minister Amit Mitra today said.

The state government had earlier announced plans of making at least two film cities, one each in Uttarpara, a few km from Kolkata and the other one in north Bengal. Read more

Source : www.indianexpress.com

India, US fund $50-mn project for solar research

Bengaluru: Energy cooperation, which has become a vital part of Indo-US relations, has taken another leap with a $50 million collaboration to promote solar energy research.

The Solar Energy Research Institute for India and the United States (SERIIUS) has been set up by the Indian Institute of Science and the National Renewable Energy Laboratories (NREL), part of the US Department of Energy. Read more

Source : www.deccanchronicle.com

India, U.S. collaborate on solar energy

MUMBAI : India and the United States have started an initiative to develop solar energy through photovoltaic (PV) projects and concentrated solar power (CSP), also known as solar thermal.

This comes four months after India experienced one of the world’s biggest blackouts, which affected more than 680 million people. Read more

Source : www.thehindu.com

USD 300 million ADB loan to Chhattisgarh

New Delhi: Asian Development Bank would provide USD 300 million loan to the Chhattisgarh government for overhauling over 900 kilometres of roads in the state by 2017. 

"... Will provide USD 300 million to overhaul more than 900 kilometres of roads in India’s Chhattisgarh state, bringing better access to markets, businesses, social services and education for rural residents," ADB said in a statement today. Read more

Source : zeenews.india.com

Coimbatore City corporation continues drive against illegal structures

COIMBATORE: City corporation officials have locked and sealed illegal structures inside a posh residential apartment complex being developed by an international property developer firm near Sowripalayam late on Saturday night. Civic body officials initiated action against a two storey club house and a swimming pool located inside the complex. Though a water treatment plant was also found to be constructed on encroached land, the authorities have not taken action in this matter, as it is required to supply water to some residents who have already moved into the building.

According to corporation officials, the owners have also been asked to suspend ongoing construction work as the building license for the structure obtained from the corporation had expired in 2010. Officials locked and sealed the club house building illegally constructed on 272 sq mt space and a swimming pool occupying 72 sqmt of space at The Retreat, residential apartment complex project in Sowripalayam here in the city. The project is being developed by Mint Homes, a property development firm with a presence in the international circuits especially in the United States. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

‘Renewable energy costlier in India than US, Europe’

HYDERABAD : Producing renewable energy in India is more expensive than in the US and Europe. This is because of high interest rates and relatively short-term loans for renewable projects, says a study.

These financial factors add 24-32 per cent to the cost of renewable energy in India, compared to similar projects in the US and Europe, says the study carried out by the Climate Policy Initiative and the Centre for Emerging Markets, Indian School of Business, Hyderabad. Read more

Source : www.thehindubusinessline.com

‘Green' is the new white-collar job

Environmentally conscious nations have made rapid strides in creating jobs that are green, clean and more sustainable. However, we in India are yet to warm up to the idea

An increasing awareness towards the preservation of the environment has created what is now popularly known as ‘green jobs’. A green job is essentially an employment in any industry, be it agriculture, manufacturing, research and development, administration and service activities such as IT, finance that contributes to preserving or restoring environmental quality. According to estimates nearly 1.5 million green jobs will be created in India by 2014. Read more

Source : www.dailypioneer.com