INDIA NOTES

Source: MINISTRY OF STATISTICS AND PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION – January12, 2011

1. The Quick Estimates of Index of Industrial Production (IIP) with base 2004-05 for the month of November 2011 have been released by the Central Statistics Office of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. The General Index for the month of November 2011 stands at 167.4, which is 5.9% higher as compared to the level in the month of November 2010. The cumulative growth for the period April-November 2011-12 stands at 3.8% over the corresponding period of the previous year.

2.The Indices of Industrial Production for the Mining, Manufacturing and Electricity sectors for the month of November 2011 stand at 127.6, 177.8 and 145.6 respectively, with the corresponding growth rates of (-) 4.4%, 6.6% and 14.6% as compared to November 2010 (Statement I). The cumulative growth in the three sectors during April-November, 2011-12 over the corresponding period of 2010-11 has been (-)2.5%, 4.1% and 9.5% respectively, which moved the overall growth in the General Index to 3.8%.

3. In terms of industries, seventeen (17) out of the twenty two (22) industry groups (as per 2-digit NIC-2004) in the manufacturing sector have shown positive growth during the month of November 2011 as compared to the corresponding month of the previous year (Statement II). The industry group ‘Publishing, printing & reproduction of recorded media’ has shown the highest growth of 69.1%, followed by 41.8% in ‘Medical, precision & optical instruments, watches and clocks’ and 29.3% in ‘Food products and beverages’. On the other hand, the industry group ‘Electrical machinery & apparatus n.e.c.’ has shown a negative growth of 38.7% followed by 8.6% in ‘Furniture; manufacturing n.e.c.’ and 6.4% in ‘Office, accounting & computer machinery’.

4. As per Use-based classification, the growth rates in November 2011 over November 2010 are 6.3% in Basic goods, (-) 4.6% in Capital goods and 0.2% in Intermediate goods (Statement III). The Consumer durables and

Consumer non-durables have recorded growth of 11.2% and 14.8% respectively, with the overall growth in Consumer goods being 13.1%.

5. Some of the important items of consumer goods showing high positive growth during the current month and thus contributing to the growth of the overall index for the month include ‘Woollen carpets’ (110.6%), ‘Cashew Karnels’ (97.3%), ‘Newspapers’ (70.9%), ‘Marble Tiles/Slabs’ (65.3%), ‘PVC Pipes & Tubes’ (49.9%), ‘Sugar’ (41.8%), ‘Rice’ (38.4%), ‘Scooter and Mopeds’ (37.6%), ‘Polythene bags including Hdpe & Ldpe Bags’ (34.7%) and ‘Leather garments’ (33.5%). However, some important items of the consumer goods are also showing negative growth. These are: ‘Coirs, Mats & Mattings’ [(-) 37.5%], ‘Antibiotics and It’s Preparations’ [(-) 19.7%] and ‘Gems & Jewellery’ [(-) 17.0%].

6. The other important items showing negative growth during the month are: ‘Cement Machinery’ [(-)72.1%], ‘Cable, Rubber Insulated’ [(-)65.5%], ‘Colour TV Picture Tubes’ [(- ) 64.0%] , ‘UPS/Inverter/Converter’ [(-)61.4%], ‘Particle Boards’ [(-)30.3%] and ‘Cotton Yarn’ [(-)18.7%].

WPI & INFLATION

The official Wholesale Price Index for All Commodities (Base: 2004-05 = 100) for the month November, 2011 rose by 0.1 percent to 156.9 (Provisional) from 156.8 (Provisional) for the previous month.

INFLATION: The annual rate of inflation, based on monthly WPI, stood at 9.11% (Provisional) for the month of November, 2011 (over November, 2010) as compared to 9.73% (Provisional) for the previous month and 8.20% during the corresponding month of the previous year. Build up inflation in the financial year so far was 4.95% compared to a build up of 5.50% in the corresponding period of the previous year.

PRIMARY ARTICLES (Weight 20.12%): The index for this major group declined by 1.6 percent to 201.1 (Provisional) from 204.3 (Provisional) for the previous month.

MANUFACTURED PRODUCTS (Weight 64.97%): The index for this major group rose by 0.5 percent to 139.8 (Provisional) from 139.1 (Provisional) for the previous month.

India's Economy Graphics

TECH WATCH

A Light Wave of Innovation

Gold, titanium and tin oxide hold great expectations for solar panels of the future. Silicon solar panels used today lose much of the potential energy beamed by the sun as these are not able to absorb infrared rays which account for more than 50 percent of solar energy received on the earth. However, making solar energy competitive with other energy sources now seems possible with a newly developed technology. It’s about embedding a nano-antennae into the silicon of the panel.

Some solar devices, like calculators, only need a small panel of solar cells to function. But supplying enough power to meet all our daily needs would require enormous solar panels. And solar-powered energy collected by panels made of silicon, a semiconductor material, is limited — contemporary panel technology can only convert approximately seven percent of optical solar waves into electric current.

Profs. Koby Scheuer, Yael Hanin and Amir Boag of Tel Aviv University's Department of Physical Electronics and its innovative new Renewable Energy Center are now developing a solar panel composed of nano-antennas instead of semiconductors. By adapting classic metallic antennas to absorb light waves at optical frequencies, a much higher conversion rate from light into useable energy could be achieved. Such efficiency, combined with a lower material cost, would mean a cost-effective way to harvest and utilize "green" energy.

The technology was recently presented at Photonics West in San Francisco and published in the conference proceedings.

Receiving and transmitting green energy

Both radio and optical waves are electromagnetic energy, Prof. Scheuer explains. When these waves are harvested, electrons are generated that can be converted into electric current. Traditionally, detectors based on semiconducting materials like silicon are used to interface with light, while radio waves are captured by antenna.

For optimal absorption, the antenna dimensions must correspond to the light's very short wavelength — a challenge in optical frequencies that plagued engineers in the past, but now we are able to fabricate antennas less than a micron in length. To test the efficacy of their antennas, Prof. Scheuer and his colleagues measured their ability to absorb and remit energy. "In order to function, an antenna must form a circuit, receiving and transmitting," says Prof. Scheuer, who points to the example of a cell phone, whose small, hidden antenna both receives and transmits radio waves in order to complete a call or send a message.

By illuminating the antennas, the researchers were able to measure the antennas' ability to re-emit radiation efficiently, and determine how much power is lost in the circuit — a simple matter of measuring the wattage going in and coming back out. Initial tests indicate that 95 percent of the wattage going into the antenna comes out, meaning that only five percent is wasted.

According to Prof. Scheuer, these "old school" antennas also have greater potential for solar energy because they can collect wavelengths across a much broader spectrum of light. The solar spectrum is very broad, he explains, with UV or infrared rays ranging from ten microns to less than two hundred nanometers. No semiconductor can handle this broad a spectrum, and they absorb only a fraction of the available energy. A group of antennas, however, can be manufactured in different lengths with the same materials and process, exploiting the entire available spectrum of light.

When finished, the team's new solar panels will be large sheets of plastic which, with the use of a nano-imprinting lithography machine, will be imprinted with varying lengths and shapes of metallic antennas.

Improving solar power's bottom line

The researchers have already constructed a model of a possible solar panel. The next step, says Prof. Scheuer, is to focus on the conversion process — how electromagnetic energy becomes electric current, and how the process can be improved.

The goal is not only to improve the efficiency of solar panels, but also to make the technology a viable option in terms of cost. Silicon is a relatively inexpensive semiconductor, but in order to obtain sufficient power from antennas, you need a very large panel — which becomes expensive. Green energy sources need to be evaluated not only by what they can contribute environmentally, but also the return on every dollar invested, Prof. Scheuer notes. "Our antenna is based on metal — aluminium and gold — in very small quantities. It has the potential to be more efficient and less expensive."

 

 

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