After making rapid strides in information technology sector, Orissa is now focusing on development of bio-technology in the state. The state’s first bio-technology park, which was started a couple of years ago, is all set to come up in the city next month. This park, claims state science and technology minister Rabinarayan Nanda, would give a boost to research and development in the sector.
This apart, the bio-diesel policy which is under formulation is in the final stage and is likely to be announced soon.
The state government is actively considering the proposal of extensive plantation of jatropha and other oil seeds for bio-diesel production. Worried over the rising energy requirement of the state, officials of forest, agriculture and administrative departments are holding regular discussions to develop bio-diesel production. The state government has already launched a pilot project on jatropha cultivation in the hilly Koraput-Bolangir-Kalahandi (KBK) districts.
Tribal farmers in the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) and Modified Area Development Agency (MADA) areas are being encouraged by the Orissa Renewable Energy Development Agency (OREDA) to go for large-scale jatropha cultivation.
It needs to be mentioned here that the Planning Commission has been encouraging all the states to go for bio-diesel as an alternative for petrol and diesel. The OREDA, in the first phase, has set up a 600-litre per day capacity bio-diesel extraction plant and all vehicles used by the agency are running on bio-diesel.
"If the need arises, another extraction plant will be set up," minister Mr Nanda informed.
After IT, Orissa will now focus on bio-tech
March 20, 2006, 10:28 amWebsite takes IT harvest to farmers
March 20, 2006, 10:26 am
Information from agricultural experts through an interactive website promises to serve as potent manure for farmers for a rich harvest. Farmers across rural India can now dig up relevant demand-driven farming knowledge via aAqua.org, an initiative of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Bombay and its partners.
From the website, Prasad Kaledhonkar got to know about the white patterns emerging on tomato plant leaves in Tamil Nadu. A farmer’s daughter, Niyatee Nilesh of Thane, received advice on buying agricultural land, while Shirish from Maharashtra learnt about using waste water from the kitchen to irrigate gardens.
The website provides crop recommendations through a crop-keyboard browser. It also contains a section called "crop doctor" that explains different crop diseases through photographs.
The section "Bhav puchiye" (Ask the price) has practical use, as it displays market rates of different agricultural products from across India. "aAqua stands for almost all questions answered," says Krithi Ramamrutham, IIT-Bombay’s head at the Kanwal Rekhi School of Information Technology. (IANS)
From the website, Prasad Kaledhonkar got to know about the white patterns emerging on tomato plant leaves in Tamil Nadu. A farmer’s daughter, Niyatee Nilesh of Thane, received advice on buying agricultural land, while Shirish from Maharashtra learnt about using waste water from the kitchen to irrigate gardens.
The website provides crop recommendations through a crop-keyboard browser. It also contains a section called "crop doctor" that explains different crop diseases through photographs.
The section "Bhav puchiye" (Ask the price) has practical use, as it displays market rates of different agricultural products from across India. "aAqua stands for almost all questions answered," says Krithi Ramamrutham, IIT-Bombay’s head at the Kanwal Rekhi School of Information Technology. (IANS)
Risk management firms latest Indian mantra
March 20, 2006, 10:25 am
With India emerging as a favourite destination for foreign direct investment, and with multinational companies looking for joint ventures and acquisition of Indian companies, a whole new category of business activity has opened up in India: risk management and transaction advisory firms.
"The increasing globalisation of Indian business has resulted in a lot of foreign companies looking to set up joint ventures or partnering with Indian firms. These companies would like to assured about risks involved in doing business in India, like the socio-economic factors, and so on. They would also like a comprehensive check on their potential partners’ track record," says Ashish Sonal, country manager, India, for Hill & Associates, a security and risk management firm, which set up a base in India in 1998. Companies turn to risk management and transaction advisory specialists to get detailed information about potential partners in India. "We were asked to check the track record of several banks with whom a US bank had correspondent relationships in India. Our client was the acquiring bank, and wanted to satisfy itself about the financial hygiene of each and every correspondent bank in India," says the head of a risk management firm.
Apart from background checks, risk management firms also whet the background of the principals involved in a transaction. "The checking works both ways, with Indian companies, some of whom have been expanding quite aggressively abroad, buying companies or entering into joint ventures," says a partner at the transaction advisory services of KPMG, a large consulting firm.
Adds Mr Sonal, who served in the Indian Army and saw action in Sri Lanka and Kargil and now heads the 120-member Hill & Associates team, "Globalisation has brought in a huge demand for risk management services, and due diligence is only a part of this exercise. We are often asked by clients to prepare a vulnerability and impact report for a particular industry, like, for example, mining, which has a host of socio-economic factors attached."
While firms like Hill & Associates offer a full-spectrum of risk management services, other companies specialise in background checks. "We are often asked to check out the hygiene of companies," says the head of a Mumbai-based risk management firm.
"The increasing globalisation of Indian business has resulted in a lot of foreign companies looking to set up joint ventures or partnering with Indian firms. These companies would like to assured about risks involved in doing business in India, like the socio-economic factors, and so on. They would also like a comprehensive check on their potential partners’ track record," says Ashish Sonal, country manager, India, for Hill & Associates, a security and risk management firm, which set up a base in India in 1998. Companies turn to risk management and transaction advisory specialists to get detailed information about potential partners in India. "We were asked to check the track record of several banks with whom a US bank had correspondent relationships in India. Our client was the acquiring bank, and wanted to satisfy itself about the financial hygiene of each and every correspondent bank in India," says the head of a risk management firm.
Apart from background checks, risk management firms also whet the background of the principals involved in a transaction. "The checking works both ways, with Indian companies, some of whom have been expanding quite aggressively abroad, buying companies or entering into joint ventures," says a partner at the transaction advisory services of KPMG, a large consulting firm.
Adds Mr Sonal, who served in the Indian Army and saw action in Sri Lanka and Kargil and now heads the 120-member Hill & Associates team, "Globalisation has brought in a huge demand for risk management services, and due diligence is only a part of this exercise. We are often asked by clients to prepare a vulnerability and impact report for a particular industry, like, for example, mining, which has a host of socio-economic factors attached."
While firms like Hill & Associates offer a full-spectrum of risk management services, other companies specialise in background checks. "We are often asked to check out the hygiene of companies," says the head of a Mumbai-based risk management firm.
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