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Malaysia to strictly monitor immigrants' working conditions
Kuala Lumpur: The Malaysian government has said it will strictly monitor the working conditions of foreign workers in the country to ensure that they are treated in accordance with the provisions of the International Labour Organisation.

Thousands of foreign workers from India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Pakistan and other countries are employed in the country to work at constructions sites, plantations, farms and restaurants.

The country's human resources minister Dr Fong Chan Onn said "An amendment would be made to the country's Employment Act to make it mandatory for employers to submit regular reports on the condition of their foreign workers. Such a report would help us monitor the working conditions, particularly in the construction and services sectors."

The current practice requires the employer to submit such a report only on the directive of the director-general of labour.

The Indian High Commission here receives complaints every month from workers from India who claim to be ill-treated by their employers, underpaid or unpaid for their work.
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AERB: X-ray and CT scan units require licence
Mumbai: The Atomic Energy Radiation Protection Rules of 2004 (RPR-2004) requires that CT scan units and X-ray units used for interventional radiology shall now receive a licence from the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB).

The AERB says that such units deliver significantly high radiation doses compared to conventional X-ray units, which need a registration.

It has been found that employers and licensee do not comply with the regulatory requirements for the operation of CT scan Unit though the radiation protection rules were effective from September 11, 2004, the sources said. The AERB says that most of the CT scanners (around 400) in the country do not fulfill all the mandatory requirements in letter and spirit. However, this does not imply that they are hazardous.
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Finance Ministry: resolve spectrum row between GSM-CDMA players
New Delhi: The Finance Ministry has come out with a paper suggesting that the raging controversy between GSM and CDMA based operators over spectrum allocation policy should be resolved urgently.

While technology neutral allocation of spectrum to all service providers in a non-discriminatory manner is needed, spectrum allocation policy should also be based on the greater benefit for the country and optimal use of available resources the paper has suggested.

GSM players like Bharti, Hutch and Idea and CDMA players like Reliance and Tatas -- have been fighting over the quantum and methods for allocation of spectrum to respective players and have been demanding technology neutral approach for the purpose.
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Maran to lead team to IT summit in Tunis
New Delhi: Dayanidhi Maran, minister for communications and IT, is leading a high-level delegation to the second phase of the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) in Tunis from November 16 to 18.

The issues to be discussed at the summit include Internet governance, financing mechanism for ICT for development, and a road map for information society and ICT for development.

India is expected to extend its support to the open architecture of Internet governance and emphasise that it must be stable and reflect the aspiration of different stakeholders including governments, an official release said here.

The WSIS will be held in two phases. The first phase took place in Geneva from December 10-12, 2003, where 175 countries adopted a Declaration of Principles and Plan of Action. In the Tunis phase, efforts will be made to put the Plan of Action into motion, and working groups have been set up to find solutions and reach agreements in the fields of Internet governance and financing mechanisms.

During the conference, the Indian delegation will say that the country has lot to share with developing countries in ICT programmes such as tele-medicine, tele-education, e-governance, digital library, multilingualism and similar applications. On the future road map for information society and ICT for development, India will state that establishment of a suitable mechanism of financing ICT for development as well as collaborative exchanges needs to be considered by the summit.
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AP to set up Rs.5,000 crore bio-diesel plantation project
Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh Government has decided to facilitate large-scale cultivation of bio-diesel plants such as jatropa and pongamia in over 50 lakh acres at an investment of around Rs5,000 crore over the next three years.

The move is aimed at ensuring a sustainable income for farmers in the arid areas and to effectively implement the rural employment guarantee programme.

The state Government proposes to contribute around 60 per cent of the cost, about Rs2,800 crore, while banks will extend lending support for the balance (Rs2,200 crore).

The Government has also set up a high-level bio-diesel board, to be headed by the Chief Secretary, to coordinate bio-diesel plantation in 22 districts of the State, of which 13 districts are covered under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.
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