06.08.2007

• In an interesting news item about export controls for chemicals, I came across the Australia Group. I found interesting enough to note from it in our Discover It blog. I also gave a link to the Australia Group there. Do wander around and learn a bit about the group. Take a look at what I noted in Discover It blog here.
• Going by the hits I am seeing in the “Time Pass” blog, my readers i.e., YOU do enjoy a bit of digression, what with the high voltage preparation or information that my blogs take you through everyday. Do enjoy today’s Time Pass about Friendship Day.
• Incidentally a little about Friendship Day
• Friendship Day celebrations take place on the first Sunday of August every year. The tradition of dedicating a day in honor of friends began in US in 1935. Gradually the festival gained popularity and today Friendship Day is celebrated in large number of countries including India. On this day people spend time with their friends and express love for them.
• Can you list out a measure/statistic by which India’s competitiveness in the global pharmaceutical manufacturing industry can be proved?
• Yes. It is in having the largest number of US FDA (Food and Drugs Administration) approved manufacturing facilities. India has by far the largest such number of facilities outside the US. It leads the pack with 75 facilities. India is closely followed by Italy (55), and China (27).
• What is the spectrum war going on between CDMA and GSM players in India?
• GSM operators in India are organized into COAI – Cellular Operators Association of India.
• CDMA operators are organized into AUSPI – Association of Unified Service Providers of India.
• CDMA operators contend that the UASL (Unified Access Service License) given to each of the GSM operators entitles them to have only 6.25 MHz of 2G spectrum and 5 MHz of 2G spectrum to CDMA operators.
• But GSM operators disagree with this view. They say that the licenses awarded to them do not cap the spectrum allocation to 6.2 MHz. They say that they already pay an additional price for extra spectrum.
• It is interesting to note that:
• India’s telecom offerings are currently only in the 2G space.
• The DoT has constituted an internal committee to take a re-look at the 2G spectrum allocation procedure.
• Ahimsa silk
• Silk is normally produced by dropping the silk cocoons into boiling water. This way the silk worm dies during the process of producing silk. This way the silk thread obtained is long and is easy to spin.
• But ahimsa silk is about not killing the worm to produce silk. The worm is allowed to grow into moth, break open and come out. This results in broken silk fibre. There is almost 85% wastage of silk fibre this way.
• Mr. Kusuma Rajaiah of Andhra Pradesh holds the patent for producing silk this way.
• Deep sea port in India may turn a reality
• The proposed port will have a capacity to handle about 50 mn tonnes of cargo and a draught of 16 metres. It is expected to cost about Rs. 2000 crores for development.
• What is the largest denomination of a coin that can be minted in India as per the Coinage Act, 1906?
• Rs. 1,000 (Rupees One thousand)
• In today’s ET I found an interesting article by one of our industry’s doyens. It is about reinventing government to make India liveable by Arun Firodia. Take a look at it here.
• Experts are often heard pontificating about the need for a ‘grassroots’ approach to our development efforts. They say ‘people’s involvement’ is essential if the development effort is to succeed. By the time you finish reading this article, I am sure you will get a clear idea of what is this ‘people’s involvement.’