GreenDust gets honoured at the 6^th ELSC Awards 2012Wins award for 'Best Practices for Sustainable Supply Chain'

New Delhi, October 5, 2012: GreenDust, the comprehensive reverse logistics solution provider, has been awarded the ‘Best Practices for Sustainable Supply Chain’ at the 6^th Express, Logistics & Supply Chain (ELSC) Awards 2012. This highly prestigious award was conferred on GreenDust at the sixth edition of the Express, Logistics & Supply Chain Conclave held on 27^th September 2012 at Taj Land’s End, Mumbai. The ELSC Awards is considered Asia’s most important gathering of Logistics & Supply Chain Professionals.
A visibly proud Hitendra Chaturvedi, Founder & MD, GreenDust said, “We are pleased with the recognition GreenDust has received by way of the ‘Best Practices for Sustainable Supply Chain’ award. This award is a testament to our market leadership and best practices that we have brought in building a green and sustainable reverse supply chain.”

As an organized, trustworthy, national partner providing full spectrum of services across the reverse supply chain, GreenDust combines proprietary technology, services and domain experience allowing companies to beat global supply chain benchmarks of efficiency and productivity. It is committed towards reducing the impact of e-waste on the environment by meticulously designing advanced reverse supply chain solutions, while helping companies to comply by the e-waste regulations.

It is taking concrete steps to urge companies to go green by being environmentally responsible while saving money at the same time. These companies are given assurance that the alternate organized sales of factory seconds products will not affect their new product sales. Using GreenDust’s 4Rs mantra- Reduce, Reuse, Repair and Recycle, Indian consumers and manufacturers are increasingly trying to do their bit to preserve the environment and enhance individual sustainability in the long run.

About GreenDust: GreenDust is a brand of RLC that provides a one stop, technology enabled, comprehensive reversesupply chain solution by utilizing its pan-India hub and spoke modeland specialized work force that is enabled through its proprietarytechnology platform. GreenDust allows online and offlinedisposition of such returned items to end customers. GreenDust’s singulargoal is to help companies make their reverse logistics process a competitive advantage allowing them to focus on their core competencyof delighting customers through world class products. 

Pilgrim Centres are the early adopters of Solar Energy

Holy shrines are now radiating solar energy along with spiritual energy by marrying spirituality with sustainability

Pilgrimage is experiencing resurgence around the country. These are visited by a large number of people daily and so there is a ballooning demand of energy sources. The energy demands are largely met by fossil fuels. But to fuel the growth it is important to look out for the alternative sources of energy. Pilgrim centres have taken the first step in this direction by adopting solar cooking.

India is blessed with abundant sunshine which gives ample opportunity to tap solar energy to meet the country’s growing energy needs. Thousands of people visit holy shrines daily and the ‘prasadum’ offered at these places is of utmost importance. Indian pilgrimages attract visitors from all parts of the globes throughout the year. They cater these people with a variety of food cooked in their kitchen. They have now gone green by using solar energy in various applications rather than using non renewable sources of energy. The solar energy in pilgrimages is used to cook food and to provide electricity.

Solar panels are installed at the pilgrimages to make them reliant majorly on sustainable source of energy. Dedicated buildings are now built at the holy places to cook meal for the visitors using solar energy. This has dramatically cut down the costs for LPG, diesel fuel and electricity. The solar cooking is clean, hygienic and efficient especially when cooked in large amounts. Besides cutting costs the major drive behind this is to ensure clean environment.

Various companies have come forward to provide solar solutions and have helped to install solar panels in many holy places. Golden Temple at Amritsar uses solar energy to cook ‘langar’ for the devotees. ISKCON temple at Ujjain and Sri Jagannath Temple at Puri are making use of solar energy to generate electricity. This besides providing uninterrupted power supply has also cut down the cost of electricity bills and conserves energy.

One such company supporting this green initiative in the country is Falreum Technologies which has installed solar cooking panels to cook food in holy shrines like Shirdi Temple of Maharashtra and also at world’s largest religious pilgrimage Tirumala Tirupati Temple at Andhra Pradesh. These solar panels to cook meals have helped the pilgrimages to reduce their carbon emission rates down by 1.2 tonnes per day.

Solar energy panels are positive financial investments with negative environmental costs. Use of solar cooking in pilgrims has a special significance and can provide a guide to others to adopt this technology. 

RFEL stretches the Dynamic Range of ADCs to provide 'Best in Class' Product Performance

Newport, Isle of Wight, UK - 5 October 2012 - RFEL, who specialize in high performance electronic signal processing solutions, has produced a solution to overcome the common performance bottleneck of the dynamic range of high speed ADCs that can prevent innovative projects in wireless communications and instrumentation from getting off the ground. RFEL has successfully extended the dynamic range of an 8bit 800MSPS ADC from 52dB up to 74dB (see figure) in order to meet specific customer requirements for an industrial test product design. Dr. Alex Kuhrt, RFEL's CEO, explained, "Our many man-years of leading-edge, signal processing design knowledge enabled us to really push the envelope of the ADCs' dynamic range so that the customer could get a new product on the market that has 'best in class' performance. Breaking through the dynamic range limit of the ADCs was just one of the design challenges for this project, which is one of the growing number of complete box solutions that we are providing as part of our Design Services operation. RFEL was responsible for the entire design flow from initial concepts and algorithms through to PCB layout, design of firmware, software, mechanical housing, and final environmental and EMC testing." The ADCs were supplied by e2V and Francis Jones, e2V's Business Development Manager, commented, "We are delighted to see our devices being used in such an innovative way to extend their dynamic range. It is impressive to see just how much additional performance can be achieved by using our device." The multi-channel analogue and digital design uses six, quad speed, EV8AQ160 ADCs, two 1.6GHz PLLs, four high speed FPGAs and a processor. The complexity of integrating multiple large BGA devices and associated high speed I/O into a small area required a 14-layer PCB design. The added signal sensitivity requirement necessitated linear power supply regulators, low noise analogue components and careful layout of power planes. Analogue simulation was used to prove the stability and frequency response of the input chain whilst the RTL design was checked against a bit true Matlab model. The dynamic range of the ADC was extended by employing a stacked ADC architecture. This approach provides large gains in dynamic range by use of parallel data capture paths with staggered attenuation settings. Matching the frequency, phase and amplitude characteristics on these parallel paths is critical to a successful implementation. Therefore special attention was focused on the architecture of the analogue design to mitigate potential mismatch of device characteristics. After the received signal has been converted to the digital domain, the input data rate for each channel is 29Gb/s. Initial signal processing reduces the rate whilst maintaining full timing precision. Further time and frequency domain measurements are applied before passing results on to the processor. Software handles final adjustments to the data and manages the user interface. A network connection allows control, data transfer and updates to be carried out via remote access. RFEL RFEL is a UK-based electronic systems designer, providing high specification signal, image and video processing IP solutions that run on FPGAs, as well as supplying digital receiver and complete product solutions for the defense, communications, homeland security and instrumentation markets. Applications include communications base stations, satellite communications systems, test and measurement instrumentation, and bespoke wideband receivers/transceivers.

Visit of 100- Member Bangladeshi Youth Delegation to India from 6 -13 October, 2012

A 100 Member Bangladeshi Youth Delegation is visiting India from October 6-13, 2012 on the invitation of Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports. The itinerary involves interaction with local youth, visits to academic, tourist, industrial and cultural sites. It also has elements of educational values and interactive session in different areas ranging from infrastructure development, eco-tourism to information technology. This group of youth from Bangladesh comprises youth (Male- 57 & Female-39) from diverse background including students young journalist, entrepreneurs, social workers, representatives from voluntary organizations etc. During their stay in India, the Youth delegation will visit historical sites in Delhi and Agra before departing for Kolkata. In Kolkata, they will be visiting the important tourist and popular sites like Victoria Memorial, Asiatic Society, Botanical Garden and Science City. The youth Delegation will also have an opportunity to see the footprints of great poet and Nobel Laureate Rabindra Nath Tagore and his beloved creation in Shanti Niketan. This visit of 100 youth from Bangladesh will further strengthen the bonds of friendship and mutual understanding between the two great neighbouring countries. It will also facilitate exchange of ideas, cultural, political and economic relations between the two countries and enhance regional co-operation and world peace.

Foreign Tourist Arrivals and Foreign Exchange Earnings in September 2012

Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) during the Month of September, 2012 were 4.15 lakh as compared to FTAs of 4.02 lakh during the month of September 2011 and 3.70 lakh in September 2010. There has been a growth of 3.2 % in September 2012 over September 2011 as compared to a growth of 8.7 % registered in September 2011 over September 2010. FTAs during the period January-September 2012 were 46.33 lakh with a growth of 5.9%, as compared to the FTAs of 43.75 lakh with a growth of 9.9 % during January-September 2011 over the corresponding period of 2010. Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEE) during the month of September 2012 were Rs. 6652 crore as compared to Rs. 5748 crore in September 2011 and Rs 4678 crore in September 2010. The growth rate in FEE in rupee terms in September 2012 over September 2011 was 15.7% as compared to 22.9 % in September 2011 over September 2010. FEEs from tourism in rupee terms during January- September 2012 were Rs. 66061 crore with a growth of 22.9%, as compared to the FEEs of Rs. 53761 crore with a growth of 16.6 % during January- September 2011 over the corresponding period of 2010. FEEs in US$ terms during the month of September 2012 were US$ 1219 million as compared to FEEs of US$ 1208 million during the month of September 2011 and US$ 1015 milion in September 2010. The growth rate in FEEs in US$ terms in September 2012 over September 2011 was 0.9% as compared to the growth of 19 % in September 2011 over September 2010. FEEs from tourism in terms of US$ during January- September 2012 were US$ 12492 million with a growth of 5.1%, as compared to US$ 11886 million with a growth of 18.7 % during January- September 2011 over the corresponding period of 2010.

India and Netherlands Agree to Strengthen Bilateral Cooperation

On the invitation of Ms Edith Schippers, Minister of Health, Sports and Welfare, Government of Netherlands, Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad, the Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare visited Netherlands on 3rd and 4th October, 2012. During his two day visit, Shri Azad attended the Ministerial Meeting on the Responsible Use of Medicines and Anti-Microbial Resistance at Amsterdam on 3rd October and held a bilateral meeting with Ms Schippers at The Hague on 4th October. Addressing the Ministerial Conference on 3rd October, Shri Azad said responsible and rational use of medicines is an important part of the national health policy in India. He said that due to high out of pocket expenditure on health, of which a larger part is on medicines, it is vitally important that drugs are prescribed rationally. He highlighted the need to look at adherence to Standard Treatment Guidelines, curbing unethical promotion of medicines by the drug manufacturers, better regulatory control over prescriptions and dispensing of medicines and to make the consumer aware the hazards of self medication. He said several steps have been taken by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare towards universalization of health care in its endeavour to make health care services accessible, affordable and equitable, such as Free Maternal Health Services, Free Child Health Services, Free Immunization, Adolescent Health Services, Family Planning Services, NCDS and JSSK. Shri Azad said the Government of India proposes to further expand the Initiative for Universal Health Coverage by taking up Free Supply of Essential Medicines in Public Health Facilities in the country. This step, he said, is aimed at providing affordable health care to the people by reducing out of pocket expenses on medicines. Besides, Universal Health Coverage will also promote rational use of medicines and reduce the consumption of inessential medicines. During the discussions on the issue of anti-microbial resistance, Shri Azad pointed out that this is an area of serious concern the world over. He stated that the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has developed the National Policy for Containment of Antimicrobial Resistance to tackle the issue of antimicrobial resistance and promote rational and responsible use of antibiotics in India. He highlighted certain salient features of the the National Policy for Containment of Antimicrobial Resistance India, such as curbing antibiotic use in animals, conducting infection surveillance in hospitals, improving hospital surveillance for monitoring antibiotic resistance, promoting rational drug use through education, monitoring, and supervision, developing and implementing a standard and more restrictive antibiotic policy, educating health professionals in good prescribing practices and using prescription guidelines, promoting improvements in personal and hospital hygiene and hospital infection control programmes, establishing a multidisciplinary national body to coordinate policies on antibiotic use and monitor their impact, promoting systems of supervision, prescription audit and feedback in institutional settings to ensure rational use of antibiotics. Following the Ministerial Meeting on 3rd October, a bilateral meeting was held between Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad and Ms Edith Schippers on 4th October, 2012 in the Ministry of Health, Sports and \Welfare at The Hague, Netherlands. During the bilateral meeting several matters of mutual interest and benefit were discussed. Shri Azad and Ms Schippers agreed to further strengthen bilateral cooperation through signing of a broad based MoU between the two governments in the field of health & medicine for mutual benefit as well as a sectoral MoU between the respective food regulatory authorities to formalize cooperation in the important area of food safety.

MoEF Reviews Phase-IV Monitoring in Tiger Reserves Jayanthi Natarajan Addresses Commemorative Meeting to Mark Wildlife Week

A Commemorative meeting to mark the Wildlife Week and review the Phase-IV Monitoring in Tiger Reserves was held here today. It was addressed by the Minister for Environment & Forests, Smt. Jayanthi Natarajan and attended by Field Directors of Tiger Reserves, officials from NTCA and others. Speaking on the occasion, the Minister pledged that she would stop at nothing to protect and preserve the wildlife of the country. “We will take all necessary steps to ensure that the animal corridors are made legal entities and are legally enforceable”. The Minister also said that the Ministry of Environment & Forests would ensure that habitat of wildlife are protected and the local and indigenous people around the habitat are made part of the conservation effort. India has a good track record of both ‘in-situ’ as well as ‘ex-situ’ wildlife conservation. With 668 protected areas spread throughout the country, almost 5% of the country’s geographical area is earmarked for conservation. Wildlife conservation is a collective responsibility between the Centre, States and Civil Society. The Ministry of Environment & Forests is assisting the States through various Centrally Sponsored Schemes for conserving wildlife. This includes the ‘Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats’, ‘Project Tiger’ and ‘Project Elephant’. There is also a Central Sector Scheme to support the Wildlife Division of the Ministry and the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau. The Scheme of ‘Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats’ also supports protection of wildlife outside protected areas, besides recovery programmes for critically endangered species. The Project Tiger coverage has increased since its launch in 1973. From the initial 9 reserves, now there are 41 tiger reserves spread out in 17 of the States. This amounts to 2% of the country’s geographical area. The Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Project Tiger was revised in August 2011. Its allotment was stepped up for the XI Plan to Rs. 1216.86 crore, especially to support the States for securing inviolate space for tigers. A number of additional components have also been included: (i) Change in the funding pattern in respect of North Eastern States (90:10), (ii) raising compensation for man-animal conflict to Rs. 2 lakh, (iii) acquisition of private land for making the core/critical tiger habitat inviolate, (iv) establishment of Tiger Safari, interpretation/awareness centres under the existing component of ‘co-existence agenda in buffer/fringe areas’, and management of such centres through the respective Panchayati Raj Institutions, (v) re-introduction of Cheetah. Other initiatives include: (i) creation of the Kawal Tiger Reserve in Andhra Pradesh, (ii) giving in-principle to five new tiger reserve, viz. Pilibhit (Uttar Pradesh), Ratapani (Madhya Pradesh), Sunabeda (Orissa), Mukundara Hills (including Darrah, Jawahar Sagar and Chambal Wildlife Sanctuaries) (Rajasthan) and Sathyamangalam (Tamil Nadu), (iii) in-principle approval for use of CAMPA funds towards village relocation from core areas, (iv) completion of e-surveillance project in Corbett, and (v) launching ‘M-STrIPES’ monitoring protocol. The Government has been following an aggressive ‘tiger agenda’ in the core areas of the tiger reserves. The strategy now is to ensure any equally aggressive ‘inclusive’ agenda in the peripheral/buffer areas to benefit people who live in such areas. Under Project Tiger, funding support is provided for such activities in the buffer. The status of tiger and many wild animals continue to remain endangered. The Special Tiger Protection Force (STPF) has been raised and deployed in three tiger reserves, viz. Bandipur (Karnataka), Tadoba-Andhari (Maharashtra) and Pench (Maharashtra). The Government has provided central assistance (100%) to Odisha for raising this force in Similipal. Action is awaited in this regard from Corbett (Uttarakhand), Ranthambhore (Rajasthan) and Dudhwa (Uttar Pradesh). Tiger and other wildlife cannot be protected by excluding local people. The Government’s endeavour all along has been to deploy local workforce in protection. In all, approximately 24 lakh mandays are generated annually with 50% central assistance amounting to around Rs. 24 crore (excluding matching 50% share given by States) under Project Tiger. Many local tribes constitute such local workforce (besides non-tribals), e.g. Baigas, Gonds in Madhya Pradesh, Gonds in Maharashtra, Chenchus in Andhra Pradesh, Sholigas in Karnataka, Gujjars in Uttarakhand and Irulas in Tamil Nadu to name a few. The deployment of such local tribals has been fostered/encouraged in the last two years. On the international front, the Government has strengthened its bilaterals with the neighbouring and other countries. A bilateral arrangement has been recently formalized with Bangladesh on tiger conservation. Delegations are interacting with Nepal and China within the framework of existing bilateral arrangements. A sub-group on tiger/leopard conservation has been constituted for cooperation with the Russian Federation, which has met recently. The Government has provided enabling provisions in the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, to strengthen the implementation of the CITES and towards enhancement of penalties for contravention of provisions of the Act. A big progress has been made towards tiger reserves specific Phase-IV monitoring. Building up the capacity of the field officers and staff to use the state-of-the-art protocol and field methods is important and will be encouraged. The challenge is to ensure conservation of the endangered wildlife, besides fostering development. The Government’s efforts in this direction has been to have ‘better growth’ giving due importance to conservation rather than ‘more growth’ at the cost of the wildlife and their habitat.