[PDF] 18 Feb 2015

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News Bits - 18 Feb 2015

   

1. Electronic gas detectors have retired canaries from a dangerous job they had been doing in the coalmines, introducing state-of-the-art handheld gas detectors with sensors and alarm systems for deep excavation, the birds are no longer called in to play the role of an early-warning system for carbon monoxide and other toxic gases in the mines.
2. Sunderbans on the edge as tiger numbers rise, Residents fear more conflicts with big cat .
3. RSS opposes climb-down on Art. 370, AFSPA
4. Mamata-led delegation to visit

The Hindu News - 18 Feb 2015

Growth in export of agri products slidesGrowth in exports of agricultural products is seen sliding, causing a concern.
Decline in commodity prices, glut in global markets, and import ban by several countries have led to a slowdown in agri exports, after registering a consistent growth..
According to available data, the year-on-year growth in agricultural exports has reduced considerably in 2012-13 and 2013-14. Though in absolute terms, agri products exports have

[Ed] Brand India — the small picture

Take 10 steps to push MSME growth. These include making credit and land available at reasonable rates

The MSME sector is critical for India’s economy. Their share in GDP at around 8 per cent currently can grow to 15 per cent by 2020 according to a KPMG-CII study. Hopes are centred around the prospects of double digit growth in a few manufacturing sectors and FDI interventions in the defence, pharma and infrastructure sectors. Not so encouraging, however, is the

[Ed] Brightening the future with the sun and wind

Renewables can play a greater role in a sustainable energy future, but proper accounting and specialised effort to understand their grid implications and scalability are necessary
The Renewable Energy (RE) Global Investor’s Meet inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 15 invited participation in funding India’s RE growth ambitions, which include almost 1,00,000 MW of growth in solar power in just seven years (about 40 per cent of

[Ed] New thrust in India-Sri Lanka ties

Relations between India and Sri Lanka have not just been reinforced during the visit of President Maithripala Sirisena but have also gained new direction and momentum. As Sri Lanka’s closest neighbour that has ethnic links to its most significant minority, India is a huge influence in the island nation’s political, economic, social and cultural consciousness, and its world view. President Sirisena was hewing to a long and unbroken tradition of newly

[Ed] A Somalia on the Mediterranean

In the cases of Muammar Qadhafi and Saddam Hussein, opportunities to allow them to surrender were squandered. It was as if the new dispensations in Iraq and Libya could be created from scratch. Rather than disappear, the older currents would reappear in ways unforeseen in western and Gulf Arab capitals
Libya’s “Islamic State” paraded 21 Egyptian workers along the Mediterranean. The IS fighters, dressed in black, then killed the Egyptians, dressed in orange jumpsuits. One of the IS men speaks, in English, of the beheadings in Syria before he says, “… we are on the south of Rome, on the