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High interest rate leading to a slowdown of industrial production, drop in export and sluggish agriculture is likely to moderate India’s economic growth 8.7 per cent in the current fiscal.

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) had grown at 9.6 per cent in 2006-07, which was the highest in 18 years. The advance estimates reveal that manufacturing sector is likely to grow at 9.4 per cent during the fiscal as against 12 per cent last year. Agriculture and allied activities may also see a dip and are estimated to expand at 2.6 per cent as against 3.8 per cent in the previous year.

GDP at factor cost at constant (1999-2000) prices in 2007 -08 is likely to attain a level of Rs 31,14,452 crore as against Rs 28,64,310 crore in 2006-07, according to the advance estimates of national income released by the government.

According to the estimates, the GDP grew at 9.1 per cent during the first half of this fiscal. It grew at 9.3 per cent in the first quarter and 8.9 per cent in the next three-month period. The advance estimates showed a further moderation during the rest of the year.

According to the government the estimated growth rate is slightly higher than the conservative RBI projection of 8.5 per cent, but less than 9.1 per cent, projected by economic think-tank NCAER.

High interest rates have pushed up cost of producing industrial goods and reduced demand for consumer goods, affecting manufacturing growth. Analysts expressed concern over the slowdown in farm sector despite good monsoons, saying it will affect prices of agricultural produce.

Community, social and personal services are estimated to grow at 7 per cent, against 6.9 per cent. However, finance, real estate and business services are estimated to grow at 11.7 per cent as against 13.9 per cent.

According to the estimates, an Indian, on an average, is likely to have 11.8 per cent more money at Rs 33,131 this year, against Rs 29,642 in 2006-07.  Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, while reacting to advance GDP estimates of national income released today, sounded confident that the economy would grow at close to 9· per cent rate this fiscal. “I am reasonably confident that figures may be revised and economy will grow at close to 9 per cent,” Chidambaram said.

“The Central Statistical Organisation figures are lower than what I had anticipated. We are disappointed but not despondent. Poor figures are mainly because of projected low rate in the agriculture sector”, he said.  

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on sought a national debate on energy pricing policies to examine whether over use of resources through misdirected subsidies was leading to environmental degradation. He also said long-term costs of short-term benefits and issues around future energy security need to be examined.

The Prime Minister’s statement comes in wake of the government once again deferring an increase of fuel prices amid environmentalists insisting that low fuel prices were promoting the greater use of personal transport causing more air pollution. Huge government subsidies are required to keep prices of fuel and energy low.

Singh, who was speaking at the inaugural function of Delhi Sustainable Development Summit, also called for a “fair, equitable and transparent” global regime for technology transfer in the interest of people living in developing countries. “We in the developing world desperately need access to environment- friendly technologies, especially in energy; transportation, manufacturing and agriculture,” he said.

The prime minister also announced a roadmap for climate change mitigation and adoption. He announced the setting up of a venture capital fund to promote green technologies with help from the private sector.

He also said that the National Plan of Action on Climate Change would be ready by June this year. “Even as we engage internationally in creating a global strategy to address climate change, we would in parallel work on local, sub-national and national action to meet the challenges of climate change,” he said. Singh identified climate change as a global problem that needs a joint effort.

The government is considering a proposal to grant the so-called “declared good” status to natural gas and bio-fuels, making these petroleum products eligible for a lower and uniform sales tax across the country, a government official said.

If the proposal makes it to the upcoming budget, it would bring down prices of natural gas and bio-fuel, which are increasingly becoming popular because they cause less pollution and can be less expensive than conventional fuels.

Liquefied natural gas, or LNG, has already emerged as a preferred fuel for fertilizer and power sectors. Compressed natural gas is gaining ground as a transport fuel, while residents of large cities are increasingly switching to piped natural gas for cooking. The total demand for natural gas in the country is about 120 million metric standard cubic meters per day.

Providing declared goods status to LNG would ensure an uniform 4 per cent sales tax on the fuel across the country, said a government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Liquefied petroleum gas, or LPG, already gets that treatment. After the introduction of value added taxation (VAT) system from April 2005, natural gas has been kept under a revenue neutral rate. Some states have kept natural gas out of VAT and are levying a sales tax of as high as 20 per cent.

“VAT laws of some states also do not permit availing of input credit if natural gas is used as fuel and fertilizer feedstock. This has prevented cost reduction,” the official said.

Human body is the biggest natural miracle machine and different types of bio fluids like gas breathed out (i.e., carbon dioxide), night soil/stool and urine are major wastes byproducts of this machine along with saliva, tears, semen and blood. Though nature makes best use of these bio-fluid by-products, but scientists are always keen in making the technological use of these products.

Urine is always in the limelight for its various health benefits like treating toothache, mouth pain, and tonsils, to stop blood flow due to small cuttings with many more internal benefits if it (urine) is swallowed. In villages, it was generally ox or cow urine which was considered superior to human urine but in the absence of ox or cow urine, human urine was always put to many such applications.

With the growing tendency towards miniaturisation, use of micro-electronic-mechanical-systems (MEMS) and nano-devices is expanding in every day human applications. Scientists in research groups around the world are trying to develop ever smaller (i.e., credit card-sized) disposable “biochips” for disease detection that can test for a variety of diseases at once, give instant results, and, crucially, can be mass produced cheaply.

But until now, no one has been able to solve the problem of finding a power source as small and as cheap to fabricate as the detection technology itself.

Physicists in Singapore have succeeded in creating the first paper battery that generates electricity from urine and thus, here comes the human-waste-inspired invention - the urine powered battery. This battery can be easily integrated into such devices, supplying electricity upon contact with bio-fluids such as urine.

The chemical composition of urine is widely used as a way of testing for tell-tale signs of various diseases and also as an indicator of a person’s general state of health.

The concentration of glucose in urine is a useful diagnostic tool for diabetics. Prof. K B Lee (Singapore) and his colleagues realised that the substance being tested-urine could also power the test.

This new battery will be the perfect power source for cheap, disposable healthcare test-kits for various diseases.

To make the battery, Lee and his colleagues soaked a piece of paper in a solution of copper chloride and sandwiched it between strips of magnesium and copper. A simple and cheap fabrication process for the paper batteries has been developed which is compatible with the existing plastic laminating technologies or plastic molding technologies. This “sandwich” is then held in place by being laminated, which involves passing the battery unit between a pair of transparent plastic films through a heating roller at 120″C. The [mal product has dimensions of 60 mm x 30 mm, and a thickness of just 1 mm (a little bit smaller than a credit card).

The reason urine battery works is the same reason lemon batteries work as they are both acidic, i.e. ureic acid and citric acid. Urine contains many ions (electrically charged atoms), which allows the electricity-producing chemical reaction to take place in the urine battery. When a drop of urine is added to the paper through a slit in the plastic, a chemical reaction takes place that produces electricity. Using 0.2 ml of urine, they generated a voltage of around 1.5 V with a corresponding maximum power of 1.5 m W, the same as a standard AA battery, -and runs for about 90 minutes. They also found that the battery performances (such as voltage, power or duration) may be designed or adjusted by changing the geometry or materials used. Other bodily fluids, such as tears, blood, and semen, I would work easily as well to activate the battery.

 Experts say that the technology is a welcome innovation in a time of rising energy prices as urine battery will be low-cost and biodegradable. Body-fluid powered batteries can do all kinds of things. Wllile medical devices inspired the urine battery; it can activate any electric device with low power consumption. For example, we can integrate a small cell phone and our battery on a plastic card. This can be activated by body fluids, such as saliva, during an emergency.’ According to experts the technology could even be applied to laptop computers, mp3 players, televisions, and cars. Experts say that the wide number of applications for cheap and efficient biofluid-powered batteries illustrates the value of research. The issue is how to scale up the’ technology to produce more power.

The lead researcher, Dr Lee, envisions a world where people will easily be able to monitor their health at home using disposable test-kits that don’t need lithium batteries or external power sources but will work on the use of biofluids.

 External affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee has set in motion an exercise in, the ministry to assess the specific requirement of the states and Union Territories with regard to technology requirement and foreign direct investment (FDI) to give an added impetus to their developmental endeavours.

It is apparent Mukherjee first wants to create a much-vaunted database without losing sight of the specifics in terms of priorities of the various states and Union Territories. These are bound to be different considering that all states are not agrarian, industrial, coastal or landlocked.

The endeavour is to give a multiplier effect and get on the same songstreet as the industrialised countries without infringing on the role of the state governments and the organs at the Centre. What is imperative is that the MEA has to remain in the loop as the embassies abroad are the eyes and ears of the government. As the global and regional environment has changed, MEA believes that there is need for strategic planning like securing industrial raw materials and food among other critical items.

Even though every Indian mission abroad has a person looking after the commercial aspects, there is hardly any monitoring done at the headquarters. As a radical overhaul is not possible nor having a separate set up like the Austrade, the organisation in Australia overseeing trade and commercial matters, Mukherjee is looking for taking specialists on board from the key economic ministries and public sector companies as well as liaising closely with the Chambers of Commerce and Industry. It is apparent that the bottom line is to unleash a systemic change to match global synergies.

It is in this context that the MEA convened its first meeting with the Resident Commissioners of all the states and UTs here today for creating the ground for the external affairs minister to discuss every state’s developmental and high-tech priorities with the Chief Ministers.

Secretary (economic relations) in the MEA K.C. Singh impressed upon the Resident Commissioners that his ministry wants to act as a bridge in securing FDI as well as technology for gearing up the developmental endeavours. The states have been urged to provide information pertaining to their requirements and prioritise the areas that they are keen to develop in keeping with their specific needs. The focus will be on areas on a systemic basis and encompass environmental issues, clean energy and bio-fuels.

Mukherjee is visiting Brazil on an official visit on February 17 and 18 where he will be discussing the key issue of energy security. Brazil is a leader in biofuels and has a separate division in their foreign office dealing with energy security, renewable energy and ethanol. While in Brazilia, the external affairs minister will also be having a meeting with the Indian Heads of Mission in Latin America. The minister will be accompanied by senior officials including the secretary (ER).