The HRD Ministry Wednesday established an innovation cell at the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) with an aim to brainstorm new ideas about promoting innovation in all higher education institutions (HEIs) across the country. The innovation cell was launched at the AICTE headquarters by Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar through video conferencing.

“This will be a significant step in institutionalising innovation and developing a scientific temperament in the country. The purpose of formation of network of Institution’s Innovation Councils (IICs) is to encourage, inspire and nurture young students by exposing them to new ideas and processes resulting in innovative activities in their formative years,” Javadekar said.

“More than 1,000 HEIs have already formed IICs in their campuses and enrolled for the IIC network managed by MHRD’s innovation cell to promote innovation through multitudinous modes leading to an innovation promotion eco-system in their campuses,” he said.

The Union minister said varsities are the main research centers of developed countries and because of their research they are at the top in global innovation ranking.

India and Nepal have decided to set up a hotline to ensure effective coordination between them to check smuggling, officials said Wednesday.

In a meeting, various matters of mutual cooperation were discussed with the chief of India’s Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, D P Dash and Director General, Customs, Nepal, Toyam Raya, they said.

The two top officials had met in Kathmandu on Monday and Tuesday for the 19th annual Indo-Nepal Director General-level talks, the officials said.

Both sides discussed measures to increase cooperation along the borders to combat smuggling, improve border management and facilitate trade, they said.

They also agreed to establish a hotline between the two countries for effective coordination, the officials said.

India’s crude oil import surged 10.5 per cent to 21 million tonnes (MT) in October 2018-a seven-year high — compared with 19 MT a year ago, in turn pulling up the country’s crude oil import dependency to 83.5 per cent, according to data from Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell.

At the same, the country imported 20 per cent less petroleum products during the month and exports, too, fell 4 per cent.

India’s increased dependence on oil imports is in contradiction with the country’s planned roadmap to increase self-sufficiency. In March 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called for a time-bound reduction in India’s onerous import dependence for oil and gas.

The Ro-Pax ferry that was launched between Dahej and Ghogha, across the Gulf of Khambhat, last month got stalled mid-sea with over 400 passengers and vehicles on board Wednesday afternoon. The passengers were stuck for about three hours before two tugs were called-in, and the vessel — Voyage Symphony of South Korean origin — was towed to the Ghogha terminal in Bhavnagar district.

“It was on its way from Dahej (in Bharuch district) to Ghogha when the incident happened. It was just three nautical miles away from the Ghogha terminal when the alarms on the vessel started ringing. So as per our standard operating procedure, we had to stop the engine,” Chetan Contractor, chairman and managing director of Indigo Seaways Pvt Ltd that manages and operates the ferry service told The Indian Express.

The ferry service, a public-private partnership with the Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB), was launched on October 27 by Chief Minister Vijay Rupani. It cuts the distance between Ghogha and Dahej via sea route to just 30 km, compared to 300 km by road.

Google will invest almost $700 million in a Danish data centre powered by the abundant green energy that underpins power-intensive companies’ interest in the Nordic region. Google also said it would sign a power purchase agreement (PPA) for the new Danish data centre to ensure it is powered by renewable energy. The Nordic countries, which can generate electricity relatively cheaply from renewable sources such as hydropower and wind, have long been a magnet for heavy power-using industries, but are now attracting power-hungry data centres. Annual investment in Nordic data centres could double to more than 4 billion euros ($4.57 billion) by 2025, a new study published by the Nordic Council of Ministers, the official body for regional cooperation, said on Tuesday.

Big companies have rushed to secure cheap renewable energy to manage costs and reduce their carbon footprint through corporate PPAs which allow firms such as Google, owned by Alphabet Inc, Facebook and Microsoft to buy directly from energy generators. Nordic countries are competing for the multi-billion-euro investments with the more established FLAP-D markets, an acronym for Frankfurt-London-Amsterdam-Paris-Dublin. While the Nordics are still perceived as less connected than these markets, the region is likely to gain market share, the Council of Ministers’ study said.

New Delhi: Taking forward its trade dispute with America in the World Trade Organization (WTO), India asked the Geneva-based multilateral body to set up a panel against the US for imposing high import duties on certain steel and aluminium products, an official said.

India took this decision after both countries failed to resolve the issue in a bilateral consultation process under the dispute settlement mechanism of the WTO.

Consultation is the first step of the dispute settlement process in the organisation. If two countries are not able to reach a mutually agreed solution through consultation, a country can request for a WTO dispute settlement panel to review the matter.

“So, now, India has asked the WTO for establishment of the dispute panel on the matter,” the official said.

Imposition of high import duties on these items by the US affected exports of these products by Indian businesses. The US move is also not in compliance with global trade norms.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday introduced a resolution in the assembly, proposing 33 per cent reservation for women in Parliament and state legislative assemblies.

Stating that “empowerment of women is very close to my heart”, Patnaik said, “No household, no society, no state, no country has ever moved forward without empowering its women.”

“Biju Babu was the true champion of women’s empowerment. In 1992, he brought women to the realm of political decision making by providing 33 per cent reservation for women in local bodies,” he said, referring to his father and former CM Biju Patnaik.

Stating that Odisha must show its commitment and resolve to the entire country that it is the land where women are truly empowered, Patnaik appealed to all the lawmakers to extend their support and unanimously adopt the resolution.

With Srinagar’s Dal Lake struggling for survival due to its biological load from within threatening its longevity, the J&K High Court has constituted a “committee of experts” to ascertain the status of the iconic water body and to provide solutions necessary for its restoration, maintenance and preservation.  However, the committee has held four meetings since October 16 — all in the national capital — and the state exchequer, as per sources, owes the experts Rs 35 lakh so far.

The Lakes and Waterways Development Authority, the overseeing body concerning the lake, has no budgetary allocations for third party evaluations or external committees.

The High Court order, which was passed on September 18, noted that the Central government had spent close to Rs 400 crore on the lake over the past 15 years without any tangible results.

For conservation of Asiatic Lions in the state, the Gujarat government on Tuesday announced a Rs 351-crore package, including a range of new initiatives like building a state-of-the-art veterinary hospital in Sasan-Gir and forming a special cadre of 120 veterinary doctors.

The announcement comes in the wake of the death of 27 lions in and around Gir Wildlife Sanctuary during the last two months, a majority of them were infected by canine distemper virus (CDV).

The decision was taken at a meeting of State Board of Wildlife (SBWL), chaired by Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Tuesday. The meeting was also attended by Chief Secretary J N Singh and top officials of Department of Forest and Environment, like Additional Chief Secretary Rajiv Kumar Gupta and Principal Chief Conservator of Forest & Head of the Forest Force G K Sinha.

“Elaborate discussion was held at the SBWL meeting on the recent deaths of lions by CDV after which an in-principle decision was taken to sanction Rs 351 crore for various lion conservation measures in the next five years,” Forest Minister Ganpat Vasava told mediapersons here after the meeting.

Ties between the US and Pakistan hit a new low after the former suspended its $1.66 billion security assistance to Pakistan on Wednesday, days after President Donald Trump accused Pakistan of not doing enough against combatting terrorism, Pentagon said.

“USD 1.66 billion of security assistance to Pakistan is suspended,” PTI quoted Col Rob Manning, spokesman of the Department of Defence, as saying.

On November 19, Trump launched a frontal attack on Pakistan for not acting against the terror pads on its soil and gave the example of 9/11 mastermind al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden who was hiding in Abbottabad, allegedly under the protection of its military. “Of course we should have captured Osama Bin Laden long before we did. I pointed him out in my book just BEFORE the attack on the World Trade Center. President Clinton famously missed his shot. We paid Pakistan Billions of Dollars & they never told us he was living there. Fools!” Trump wrote on his Twitter handle.