Guest guest Posted November 7, 2008 Report Share Posted November 7, 2008 India approves Rs 350 Cr for bio-tech innovations OR Read in http://mail.google.com/mail/?zx=kst6buuhvoai & shva=1#inbox/11d720475f91fd93 New Delhi: The Government of India has approved a Rs.350 crore public-private partnership (PPP) programme to carry out bio-technology innovations in areas like agriculture, human health and animal productivity. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), at a meeting here, gave its approval for launching the Biotechnology Industry Partnership Programme for high-risk discovery and innovation. " An amount of Rs.350 crore has been earmarked for the programme during the 11th Plan, " an official statement said. The programme aims to increase the global competitiveness of Indian industry in new and futuristic technologies and enhance ownership of patents in the areas by Indian companies and scientists.It will cater to major national unmet technological needs in agriculture, human health, animal productivity, energy and environment where expected social and economic impact is high, reports IANS. The government would contribute 30 to 50 per cent to the industry for innovation. " Under this advanced technology scheme, support would be provided only for futuristic areas, transformational technology and product development for public good, " the statement added. The new scheme will be one of the enabling mechanisms to promote research and development in the biotech industry and public-private partnership programmes.Click to get the daily dose of news on good governance at iGovernment. Tribals no to Jharkhand R & R policy, want moreRanchi: Rejecting the rehabilitation and resettlement (R & R) policy of the state government, tribals in Jharkhand on Thursday demanded a tripartite agreement for setting up new industries between entrepreneurs, government and land owners. " The companies need our land and they have signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Jharkhand government. There should be tripartite MoUs among companies, the state government and land owners to set up industries, " Kendriya Sarna Samittee (KSS) President Ajay Tirkey said. KSS is an organisation fighting against " displacement " of tribal people for setting up industries. " We are not against development, but in the name of development we cannot be deprived of our constitutional rights, " he said. The tribal leader asked companies to directly approach the land owners if they wanted to acquire land for industries. " We have already rejected the resettlement and rehabilitation policy of the state government. We have submitted points of suggestion to Chief Minister Shibu Soren to amend the policy, " Tirkey said. The state's R & R policy envisages rehabilitating only those from whom the government acquired land. People who sold land to the companies do not come under the rehabilitation scheme.Many proposed steel projects, including the ones to be developed by steel majors Arcelor Mittal and Jindal Steel, are yet to take off due to land acquisition problems. Click to get the daily dose of news on good governance at iGovernment. OR Read in http://mail.google.com/mail/?zx=kst6buuhvoai & shva=1#inbox/11d720475f91fd93 Obama promises new era of scientific innovation 13:02 05 November 2008 NewScientist.com news service Colin Barras Barack Obama as the country's 44th president, promising a sea change in US policy that could affect not just the US, but the whole world. Here we take a look at what Obama has pledged over the lengthy presidential campaign, to see what his administration will mean for science and technology. In September, Obama unveiled a comprehensive Science and Technology Policy (pdf). In it he promised to lead a new era of scientific innovation in America and to restore integrity to US science policy. This would be achieved by doubling the federal investment in basic research and by addressing the " grand challenges " of the 21st century, he said. The rhetoric gained him the public endorsement of 61 Nobel laureates. Obama lacks a science background, though, and over the past 50 years it has been Republican, rather than Democratic administrations, that have tended to spend more on science. Whether Obama and his team can buck this trend in the current dire financial situation remains to be seen. Key adviser Although he consulted a range of Nobel prize winners during his presidential campaign, it is also crucial that Obama chooses his presidential scientific adviser early in his term, Joanne Carney of the American Association for the Advancement of Science toldNew Scientist in September. " Having the science adviser in place early is going to be critical, " Carney said. " It means that an individual can play a role in placing other key scientists throughout the federal agencies. " The outgoing Bush administration took 10 months to appoint John Marburger as the presidential science adviser – a position that didn't exist until Russia sent Sputnik into space 50 years ago. By the time Marburger took up his post the president had already made clear his position on stem cells and climate change, leaving his new adviser with few decisions to make. To the heavens We already have some idea of Obama's own position on the big scientific issues – at the beginning of September he answered 14 questions posed by a consortium of scientific organisations. Obama promised to lift the current ban on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research and support recommendations on genetic engineering as proposed by the Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee. Technology could benefit under the Obama administration too, with promises to re-establish the National Aeronautics and Space Council – scrapped in 1993 by George Bush senior. The move would " expand our reach into the heavens and improve life here on Earth, " said Obama. Obama's attitude to the problem of climate change appeals to many in the scientific community – he aims toreduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, and expand research funding into energy resources that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Read our environmental analysis of what the Obama victory will mean for the fight against climate change. Health of the nation Obama's policy on healthcare will be among the most carefully scrutinised. The US spends twice as much per head on healthcare as many other developed nations, but has little extra benefit to show for it. With a healthcare bill that currently stands at over $2 trillion per year and is rising rapidly, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that the US's health spending will soar to 49% of GDP in 2082 – it currently stands at 16%. Shannon Brownlee, a specialist in health policy with the New America Foundation, a non-partisan think tank in Washington DC, told New Scientist that the antidote to soaring costs is more research into the comparativeeffectiveness of medical interventions. That, coupled with greater use of electronic medical records and information technology, could help reduce the likelihood of duplicated diagnostic tests and minimise errors in drug prescribing. Obama has already pledged billions of dollars for such systems, and supports further biomedical research into disease and responses to bioterror attacks. Playing catch-up? For too long the US has " [reduced] support for science at a time when many other nations are increasing it, " Obama said in September. " A situation that already threatens our leadership in many critical areas of science. " That comment prompted New Scientist to wonder whether Obama feared America was falling behind in the scientific rat-race. Whether or not Obama's scientific motives are to improve the world we live in, or to play science and technology catch-up with the other leading nations, the new US president has certainly been making the right noises for those that value science and technology. Now we have to wait and see if he can deliver. OR Reaqd in http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn15130?DCMP=NLC-nletter & nsref=dn15130 *****************************************************************8 Ants have a simple solution to traffic congestion 06 November 2008 NewScientist.com news service ANTS seem to have cracked a problem we humans haven't. While our cars get clogged in jams, ants help each other to move around their colony much more efficiently. Understanding how they do this could inspire more effective routing of road traffic. Collective intelligence expert Dirk Helbing from the Dresden University of Technology in Germany and his team investigated how ants move around their colony. They set up an ant highway with two routes of different widths from the nest to some sugar syrup. Unsurprisingly, the narrower route soon became congested. But when an ant returning along the congested route to the nest collided with another ant just starting out, the returning ant pushed the newcomer onto the other path. However, if the returning ant had enjoyed a trouble-free journey, it did not redirect the newcomer. (arxiv:0810.4583v1). The researchers created a computer model of more complex ant networks with routes of different lengths. The team found that even though ants being rerouted sometimes took a longer route, they still got to the food quickly and efficiently. If human drivers travelling in opposite directions could pass congestion information to each other in this way, we would all be better off. OR Read in the link http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20026815.400?DCMP=NLC-nletter & nsref=mg20026815.400 -- Dr.V.N.Sharma http://canvas.nowpos.com/vnsharma Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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