The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence has called on the Defence Research and Development Organisation to reorient itself with a technology road map, focussing its energy on developing certain key technologies.
‘No road map yet’
“The Committee, while appreciating the work done by DRDO, nevertheless, also feels concerned to note that even after 58 years [after establishment], there is no clear-cut technological road map prepared,” it said.
It has called for scientific, technical and concurrent audit of all on going DRDO projects by an independent agency, expressing its dismay over the closure of several projects at the initial stage itself.
“The committee expresses its concern on the wasteful expenditure incurred by DRDO on closure of major projects like Airborne Surveillance Platform, Cargo Ammunition, GPS based system as an alternative to fire direction radar” and several air-defence gun systems, the panel said.
The committee criticised the DRDO for the delay in major projects.
Transit of Mercury can be seen on May 9 from 4.41 PM onward in all parts of India. If missed, one will be able to witness after 16 years on November 13, 2032.
A rare celestial event that will take place on May 9 could be seen from India for maximum about 2 hours and 45 minutes from 4.41 PM onward.On Monday, Mercury - our solar system's smallest planet - will journey directly in front of the Sun, offering a rare viewing opportunity for professional astronomers and backyard sky watchers alike.
The planet mercury will pass across the face of the Sun and as a dot on solar disc. This transit of 7 hours and 30 minutes might be visible from most parts of Asia except Japan and south-eastern parts of the continent.
Depending upon the sunset time of different places in India, the observers located in the extreme east of the country (Port Blair) will see the event for about one hour from the beginning (4.41 PM) while the ones located in the extreme west (Dwarka in Gujarat) will be able to see it for about 2 hours and 45 minutes from 4.41 PM onwards.
It would be difficult to see the transit without optical magnification. This event can be viewed with the help of binocular or telescope attached with proper solar filter or by making projection of the Sun's image on a white board by telescope. Such a transit of Mercury over the disc of the Sun happens only when the Sun, the Mercury and the Earth are lined up in one plane. It appears as a dot (black spot) on the solar disc because its angular size is very small compared to that of the Sun as seen from the Earth.
The event can be seen from 4.41 PM onward in all parts of India. In Delhi, for a duration of about 2 hours 20 minutes from 4.41 PM onward, in Kolkata for 1 hour and 26 minutes, in Mumbai for 2 hours 24 minutes and for about 1 hour 45 minutes in Chennai. If missed, one will be able to witness after 16 years on November 13, 2032.
Such astronomical event had last occurred on November 6, 2006 and only end of the event was visible from the extreme north-eastern parts of India. While, the next transit of Mercury will take place on November 11, 2019, the event will not be seen from India as it will begin after the sunset time of all places in the country.
The transit of Mercury will thus be visible next time from India on November 13, 2032.The phenomena is a relatively rare one which occurs 13 or 14 times in a century. It occurs in the month of May and November. The interval between one November transit and next November transit may be 7, 13 or 33 years whereas the interval between one May transit and the next May transit may be 13 or 33 years.
Besides Asia, the transit of Mercury will also be visible from Europe, Africa, Greenland, South America, North America, Arctic, North Atlantic Ocean and most of the Pacific Ocean.
The entire transit,from beginning to end, will, however, be visible from eastern North America, north South America, the Arctic, Greenland, extreme north-western Africa, Western Europe and the North Atlantic Ocean.
The Government of India has been forced
to withdraw the notifications, amending the rules for withdrawal of funds from
the Employees'
Provident Fund Organisation(EPFO).
Confederation of Central Government Gazetted Officers Organisations (CCGGOO) opinioned
that the government, which was not prepared to listen to the demands of the
central trade unions and their representatives in the Central Board of Trustees
of EPFO, had to withdraw it because of struggles of employees in different
parts of the country including Bengaluru and Visakhapatnam.
It is to be recalled that last year’s
union budget proposed to appropriate the so-called unclaimed money from EPFO
while this year the government proposed to tax EPFO contributions, which it had
to withdraw later due to huge protests in different parts of the country. These
measures are part of the government policies aimed at dismantling the EPF
itself.
In the meeting of the CBT on March 29,
2016, all the trade union representatives demanded withdrawal of this
notification or to give an option to the employees to withdraw their money or
to continue to keep it in EPFO. The government is trying to mislead by saying
that the amendment on February 10 was done as per the suggestions of some trade
unions.
Denial of full withdrawal creates
serious difficulties to the employees, particularly in situations where they do
not have any job security and other statutory benefits, as in the case of
garment sector where huge unrest has erupted.
The CCGGOO has congratulated the employees
who have forced the government to withdraw this unwanted amendment. It
reiterated its demand that the government should hold proper consultations with
trade unions before taking any policy decision that impacts the workers in any
way.
DRTC Cadre Review should be
completed before start of 2016 Assessments & implementation of VII CPC
recommendations. Until implementation of
Cadre Review proposals, DRTC Assessments should not be conducted.
