Volume X - Issue VI - June 2008
Fascinating Projects
Additional $200M approved for Anhui Roads Project in China The World Bank's Board of Executive Directors have approved a loan of $200 million to the People's Republic of China for roads infrastructure improvements in Anhui Province in support of social and economic development in the region.  Located in eastern China with about 65 million people, Anhui’s geographic location makes the province a natural crossing area for the flow of industrial products and technology between more developed coastal provinces and less prosperous inland regions. However, the average service level of Anhui’s 71,000 km highway network is limited due to the relatively low technical standards. The percentage of paved roads is also the lowest compared to the six surrounding provinces. Other major highway issues include connections on the east-forward corridors consisting of roads of a class not commensurate with their function, deteriorating condition of several priority segments, and unbalanced distribution of road connectivity across the Province. The Anhui Highway Rehabilitation and Improvement Project seeks to assist the Government of Anhui with enhancing the level of service and traffic capacity by improving the conditions of the roads across the province, more efficient roads maintenance, enhanced road network planning and management, and optimizing the use of resources for the upkeep of road assets.  “Through the project, we hope to help improve the living conditions in Anhui Province by enhancing the transport accessibility to economic opportunities and social services,” said World Bank project leader and Lead Transport Specialist Aurelio Menendez. “The project also aims at reducing transport costs so as to stimulate higher economic growth within the province and between Anhui and its neighboring provinces.” World Bank finance accounts for over 40% of the total project cost of $468 million. It will be used to improve pavement conditions of about 890 km of the road network, upgrade about 320 km of key provincial and national roads, pilot road maintenance by contract approach, and support technical assistance and staff training. This is the third highway project that the World Bank has supported in Anhui Province. For more information about the project, please click here. For more information about the World Bank and China, visit: www.worldbank.org/cn. Cassini Program Duration Extended NASA has announced that the duration of the international Cassini-Huygens mission has been extended by two years. The historic spacecraft's stunning discoveries and images have revolutionized mankind's knowledge of Saturn and its moons. Cassini's mission originally had been scheduled to end in July 2008. The newly-announced two-year extension will include 60 additional orbits of Saturn and more flybys of its exotic moons. These will include 26 flybys of Titan, seven of Enceladus, and one each of Dione, Rhea and Helene. The extension also includes studies of Saturn's rings, its complex magnetosphere, and the planet itself.  "This extension is not only exciting for the science community, but for the world to continue to share in unlocking Saturn's secrets," said Jim Green, director, Planetary Science Division, NASA Headquarters, Washington. "New discoveries are the hallmarks of its success, along with the breathtaking images beamed back to Earth that are simply mesmerizing." "The spacecraft is performing exceptionally well and the team is highly motivated, so we're excited at the prospect of another two years," said Bob Mitchell, Cassini program manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. Based on findings from Cassini, scientists think liquid water may be just beneath the surface of Saturn's moon, Enceladus. That's why the small moon, only one-tenth the size of Titan and one-seventh the size of Earth's moon, is one of the highest-priority targets for the extended mission. Cassini discovered geysers of water-ice jetting from the Enceladus' surface. The geysers, which shoot out at a distance three times the diameter of Enceladus, feed particles into Saturn's most expansive ring. In the extended mission, the spacecraft may come as close as 15 miles from the moon's surface. Cassini's observations of Saturn's largest moon, Titan, have given scientists a glimpse of what Earth might have been like before life evolved. They now believe Titan possesses many parallels to Earth, including lakes, rivers, channels, dunes, rain, snow, clouds, mountains and possibly volcanoes. "When we designed the original tour, we really did not know what we would find, especially at Enceladus and Titan," said Dennis Matson, the JPL Cassini project scientist. "This extended tour is responding to these new discoveries and giving us a chance to look for more." Unlike Earth, Titan's lakes, rivers and rain are composed of methane and ethane, and temperatures reach a chilly minus 290 degrees Fahrenheit. Although Titan's dense atmosphere limits viewing the surface, Cassini's high-resolution radar coverage and imaging by the infrared spectrometer have given scientists a better look. Other activities for Cassini scientists will include monitoring seasons on Titan and Saturn, observing unique ring events, such as the 2009 equinox when the sun will be in the plane of the rings, and exploring new places within Saturn's magnetosphere.
 Cassini has returned a daily stream of data from Saturn's system for almost four years. Its travel scrapbook includes nearly 140,000 images and information gathered during 62 revolutions around Saturn, 43 flybys of Titan and 12 close flybys of the icy moons. More than 10 years after launch and almost four years after entering into orbit around Saturn, Cassini is a healthy and robust spacecraft. Cassini launched Oct. 15, 1997, from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on a seven-year journey to Saturn, traversing 2.2 billion miles. It is one of the most scientifically capable spacecraft ever launched, with a record 12 instruments on the orbiter and six more instruments on the European Space Agency's Huygens probe, which piggybacked a ride to Titan on Cassini. Cassini receives electrical power from three radioisotope thermoelectric generators, which generate electricity from heat produced by the natural decay of plutonium. The spacecraft was captured into Saturn orbit in June 2004 and immediately began returning data to Earth. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project between NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. For more information on the Cassini-Huygens mission, visit http://www.nasa.gov/cassini.
 Created in 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is America’s focal point for research, development and exploration of outer space. In 2005, the US President and Congress committed the United States to exploring the solar system and beyond: completing assembly of the International Space Station, flying the new Crew Exploration Vehicle no later than 2014, returning astronauts to the moon by the end of the next decade, and sending human missions to Mars and beyond. For over 50 years, NASA has been leading the world in the development and usage of advanced program and project management. Additional information about NASA can be found at www.nasa.gov. To learn more about NASA's space exploration plans, visit: www.nasa.gov/exploration. Club Med Pilot Project to add Connectivity Alcatel-Lucent announced on April 28 that it has engaged in an Asia Pacific communications pilot project that will help the world-renowned Club Med resort group target the fast-growing corporate travel market. Club Med is widely recognized for having invented the "all-inclusive resort" concept, which is now a popular vacationing style for people of all ages. Club Med advocates an "enriching relaxation" approach for leisure travelers and families on vacation. Now Club Med thinks their resorts facilities are well suited for corporations looking for sites for conventions, retreats, team-building sessions and workshops.  The roll-out of Club Med’s Asia Pacific communications network marks the group’s intention to better meet upscale leisure customers’ expectations and to address the corporate market segment by offering its guests the ability to stay connected while at some of the world’s most exotic locations. (photo: Beach at Club Med Turkoise in Caribbean) When deployed, Alcatel-Lucent’s network infrastructure will enable wired and wireless high-speed Internet access in guest rooms and will include WIFI access points in common areas such as swimming pools, poolside bars and ballrooms. The project was initiated in April and will gradually be implemented across nine Club Med villages, including Thailand’s Phuket, Indonesia’s Bintan and Bali, Bora-Bora in French Polynesia, and Kani in the Maldives. “Club Med’s innovative, value-driven holiday concept has been well received worldwide, and adding seamless communication will be a key component in providing superior services. Through wired and wireless technology platforms provided by Alcatel-Lucent, our high-profile corporate guests will now be able to combine business with leisure at our exotic resorts,” said Bruno Courbet, Head of IT, Club Med APAC.
 “With corporate travel booming in Asia Pacific, the hospitality industry has to continually upgrade its services and products to cope with increased competition,” said Frédéric Rose, Alcatel-Lucent’s President for Europe, Asia and Africa. (photo: Club Med Bora Bora, French Polynesia) Alcatel-Lucent will pre-test and project manage the deployment of an end-to-end integrated solution that includes the 7302 Intelligent Services Access Manager (ISAM). Management systems will be hosted via Alcatel-Lucent Chai Chee Data Center in Singapore and maintenance services will also be provided. Club Méditerranée, commonly known as Club Med, is a French corporation of vacation resorts found in many parts of the world, usually in exotic locations. It is seen by many as having started the all-inclusive resort concept, which is now a popular vacationing style for people of all ages. The Club was started in 1950 by former Belgian water polo champion, Gérard Blitz. The first village opened on the Spanish island of Mallorca. As of January 2007, the Club operates 90 villages, in Europe, Africa, USA, The Caribbean, South America, Southern Asia, French Polynesia, and Australia. (info courtesy of Wikepedia). Visit: http://www.clubmed.com/. Alcatel-Lucent is a leader in fixed, mobile and converged broadband networking, IP technologies, applications and services. The company offers end-to-end solutions that enable communications for people at home, at work and on the move. With operations in more than 130 countries, Alcatel-Lucent is a local partner with global reach. The company has an experienced global services team and one of the largest research, technology and innovation organizations in the telecommunications industry. Alcatel-Lucent is incorporated in France, with executive offices located in Paris. A 3 million USD Post-harvest loss management project Reported by Getachew Teklemariam in Addis Ababa A joint project with a cost of 3 million USD is going to be launched by JUCAVM (Jimma University College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine) and CIDA (Canadian International Development Agency). The project, which aims to reduce post-harvest loss through the development and dissemination of post-harvest management technologies, will be executed with a financial support of CIDA. With project duration of 6 years, it would comprise the provision of Bachelor of Science (B.Sc) and Masters of Science (M.Sc) in post-harvest management under the newly established department in Jimma University. The students of the department will, by then, undertake their research in the area of developing and disseminating low-cost post-harvest technologies, while at the same time take a leading role in the field demonstration, suitable to the local situation. Furthermore, the project would also have a training component on organizational management, processing methods and packaging.  The director of JUCAVM, Solomon Demeke, has told the Environmental News Network that “ we will initially focus on products currently experiencing higher losses including fruits like Avocado, Mango, Banana, Papaya, and other leafy vegetables, and then we will look at other agricultural products: crops and animal products”. Tessema Astatkie, Director of CIDA’s project on post-harvest management to improve livelihood, on his part said that “ post-harvest crop loss which can reach from 30-70% depending on the crop type The activity of preparing curriculum for the programme will begin in June 2008, while the B.Sc and M.Sc studies will be executed on late 2009 and 2011 respectively. For more information on Jimma university’s activities have a look at www.ju.edu.et. You can have more on CIDA from www.acdi-cida.gc.ca. World Bank and IFC announce Rewards for The World Bank Group has selected 16 companies and organizations as winners of the Development Marketplace competition for their innovative products or services tailored to Sub-Saharan Africa's off-grid lighting market. The winners will receive up to $200,000 to implement projects that offer affordable, clean, and safe off-grid lighting and that improve access to lighting for people living without electricity across the region. The winners were selected from among 52 competitors, and their projects were judged using five criteria: innovation, measurability of outcomes, organizational and financial sustainability, growth potential, and realism. They will use the funds to implement their projects in several African countries, including Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Tanzania.  “The ideas and concepts presented during this competition were far beyond our expectations, and this level of innovation and creativity is exactly what Africa needs. We are looking forward to seeing the winners implement their projects,” said Anil Cabraal, World Bank Lead Energy Specialist. (photo: nurse in Ghana using new LED lighting system) One of the winning projects will use cassava waste to produce biogas for lighting about 2,250 rural homes. Another project introduced a revolutionary type of energy efficient solar cell product for light emitting diodes that can also be used as a mobile phone and energy charger and a source of energy for radio. The people’s choice award went to a project that aims to use the Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies, a network of solar technicians in Tanzania, and reasonably priced solar systems to reach remote areas.  “This has been one the most fruitful Development Marketplace competitions. All of the finalists were able to meet with businesses and NGOs that are relevant to their day-to-day activities. This will help broaden their reach and impact,” said Monika Weber-Fahr, IFC Manager for the Sustainable Business Innovator. (photo: students using LED lighting in Accra, Ghana) The competition took place during Lighting Africa 2008, the first global business conference for off-grid lighting in Africa, held in Accra, Ghana, from May 6 to 8, 2008. The conference is part of the World Bank Group’s Lighting Africa program, which aims to mobilize the private sector to provide modern off-grid lighting to more than 250 million people in sub-Saharan Africa by the year 2030. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is a member of the World Bank Group that fosters sustainable economic growth in developing countries by financing private sector investment, mobilizing private capital in local and international financial markets, and providing advisory and risk mitigation services to businesses and governments. IFC’s vision is that poor people have the opportunity to escape poverty and improve their lives. In FY07, IFC committed $8.2 billion and mobilized an additional $3.9 billion through syndications and structured finance for 299 investments in 69 developing countries. IFC also provided advisory services in 97 countries. For more information, visit For more information, visit www.ifc.org, the World Bank at www.worldbank.org, or the Lighting Africa initiative at www.lightingafrica.org. Development Marketplace is a competitive grant program that funds innovative, small-scale development projects. These projects not only deliver results, but also have the potential to be expanded or replicated elsewhere. Since its inception in 1998, the program has awarded over $50 million to roughly 1,000 projects through global, regional, and country-level marketplaces. For more information, visit www.developmentmarketplace.org. World Bank approves funds for three key projects in Nepal According to a World Bank press release on 6 May 2008, Nepalese families affected by a decade of civil war are set to benefit from a US$50 million World Bank grant to support the country's efforts to consolidate the November 2006 Comprehensive Peace Accord. The Emergency Peace Support Project approved by the World Bank will help the Government of Nepal fulfill commitments made under the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and the subsequent 23 Point Agreement. As part of the peace process, the Seven Party Alliance government has authorized payments of US$1,540 each to the families of the war deceased. It has also authorized payment of US$48 per month to approximately 19,600 verified Maoists in cantonments. The project will also help the government pilot reintegration initiatives. A fragile peace has been sustained over the past two years and important steps taken towards a “new Nepal,” including the establishment of the Seven Party Alliance in November 2005 and the recently held Constituent Assembly elections.  There is a high degree of commitment at the political level to ensure lasting peace in Nepal, and this project is designed to contribute to this agenda,” said Susan Goldmark (pictured), World Bank Country Director for Nepal. “In this pivotal moment in Nepal’s history, it is important to take concrete steps to consolidate the peace process and to ensure that development and service delivery are scaled up.” The World Bank also approved additional financing of US$50 million for the Nepal Health Sector Program and US$27 million for the Second Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project. The grant to the health sector program is designed to expand access to and the use of essential health care services, especially by underserved populations. In addition, the grant will support two recent initiatives: the removal of some user fees and the introduction of the Safe Delivery Incentive Program benefiting many poor and disadvantaged women and children. The grant for the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project will scale up the project to provide services to more remote rural areas. It aims to improve institutional performance of the rural water supply and sanitation sector and will also support communities to form inclusive local water supply and sanitation user groups that can plan, implement, and operate drinking water and sanitation infrastructure that delivers sustainable health, hygiene, and productivity benefits to rural households. An additional 400,000 people from nearly 600 communities stand to benefit from rural water supply and sanitation facilities with the new financing. Another 450 schemes will undergo the development phase, which includes activities for social capital development, preceding the construction phase. Meanwhile, social accountability and community score card systems will be institutionalized. It is also expected that a rural water supply and sanitation sector monitoring and evaluation system will be established and made operational within the government system prior to the close of the extended project period. The grants are from the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank’s concessionary lending arm. For more information on the Bank’s work in Nepal, please visit http://www.worldbank.org.np. Russian steel company Severstal lands Euro 600 million Reported by Alexander Tovb in Moscow In the latest in a series of projects with Russian steelmaker Severstal, the EBRD is providing With its colossal appetite for power and heat, the steel industry is a prime target for energy-saving initiatives and this is especially true in Russia, where low energy costs have long fostered wasteful practices on a massive scale. A team of EBRD staff worked for a year and a half with Russian steel giant Severstal on one of the biggest industrial energy efficiency projects ever funded by a development bank.
Severstal is one of four companies that dominate Russia’s steel sector and its energy requirements are astounding. Its main plant at Cherepovets in north west Russia, which accounts for 16 per cent of Russian steel production, consumes six million megawatt-hours of electricity per annum. Yet electricity and gas satisfy only around 40 per cent of the plant’s energy needs: the remaining 60 per cent comes from coal. As coal also constitutes a key ingredient in the chemistry of steel, there is limited scope for reducing the amount used in the steel-making process. Cherepovets does, however, offer ample opportunities for cutting its electricity and gas consumption. The EBRD’s team worked with Severstal to develop a programme to cut back its energy use and reduce greenhouse gas emissions while also saving money and improving the reliability of its power supply. “Until then, Severstal had dealt with energy efficiency projects from a maintenance perspective, for example if a boiler broke down, but not with the specific intention of saving energy,” says Peter Hobson, EBRD’s Senior Banker in the Energy Efficiency Team. “We showed them that an investment could be repaid in as little as one year for some of the projects and that this would be very attractive in the context of rising energy prices.” Signing the loan, Alexey Mordashov, Severstal CEO, said: “The ERBD loan recognises our efforts in these key areas and provides us with the impetus to reduce our energy consumption.” The € 700 million that Severstal is investing in energy efficiency – of which € 600 million is being provided by the EBRD – will fund 11 different projects at Cherepovets over the next two to three years. These include the construction of a new high-efficiency combined cycle gas turbine; a system for collecting waste gases for use in power generation; and the modernisation of boilers and substations. In addition, the company will implement an Energy Management System (EMS) to measure precisely how much energy is used throughout the plant and to continuously set targets for cutting consumption. “The EMS is one of the smaller projects in terms of capital expenditure,” says Senior Engineer Ioannis Papaioannou from the EBRD’s Energy Efficiency Team. “But it is the most important single project because it is a strategic investment aimed at helping the company to approach international good practice.” The cumulative effect of these projects will be a 10 per cent reduction in the amount of electricity used in Cherepovets and a 3.5 per cent cut in the amount of natural gas consumed. Carbon dioxide emissions are expected to fall by around one million tonnes a year.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) was established in 1991 when communism was crumbling in central and eastern Europe and ex-soviet countries needed support to nurture a new private sector in a democratic environment. Today the EBRD uses the tools of investment to help build market economies and democracies in countries from central Europe to central Asia. The EBRD is the largest single investor in the region and mobilises significant foreign direct investment beyond its own financing. It is owned by 61 countries and two intergovernmental institutions. The EBRD provides project financing for banks, industries and businesses, both new ventures and investments in existing companies. The Bank uses its close relationship with governments in the region to promote policies that will bolster the business environment. The EBRD only works in countries that are committed to democratic principles. Respect for the environment is part of the strong corporate governance attached to all EBRD investments. For more information, visit http://www.ebrd.com/index.htm. Funding for Smallholder Agriculture Project in Angola Some 126,000 farming families in Angola, one of the world's poorest countries, will benefit from a $49.5 million United Nations-backed agreement signed in Rome on April 16, 2008. After almost three decades of war, peace in the southern African country has opened the way for reconstruction, but 68 per cent of Angolans live below the poverty line and 15 per cent of households live in extreme poverty. "Angola could be a rich agricultural country, but the war and lack of investment have severely held back the sector," said Carla Ferreira, country programme manager for the UN International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), which fights rural poverty. “However, we see a significant potential to increase agricultural production by expanding the average area that each farmer cultivates, increasing labour productivity and making markets more efficient. That is what this project is going to tackle,” she added.  Under the agreement signed at IFAD’s Rome headquarters by Angolan Ambassador to Italy Manuel Pedro Pacavira and IFAD President Lennart Båge, the market-oriented Smallholder Agriculture Project will be partly financed by an $8.2 million loan from the Fund. The World Bank will contribute $30.1 million and Japan another $4 million. Angola will provide $4.1 million and other project participants the equivalent of $3 million. The project will improve agricultural productivity and revitalize markets. A large proportion of beneficiaries will consist of recently returned persons who have taken up farming. The project activities will begin in the province of Bié and later expanded to Malanje and Huambo. The project will help communities identify needs for small-scale agricultural investments, which will be funded through matching grants. The project also has a gender-sensitive design, and includes budgeting for childcare to enable women to attend training courses. To improve farmers’ skills and knowledge, the project will include farmer field schools, workshops, exchange visits, and study tours at both the municipal and provincial levels to share lessons in project implementation in the different target areas. With this project, IFAD has provided a total of $44.3 million for five projects in Angola, directly benefiting 311,800 households. World Bank funding Federal Roads Development Project in Nigeria Reported by O. Chima Okereke in Nigeria The World Bank has committed US$330 million to reduce passenger travel times, vehicle operating costs and traffic related fatalities on targeted federal roads and to assist the Federal Government of Nigeria manage Nigeria’s federal road assets in a sustainable manner. The objectives of the Federal Roads Development Project in Nigeria are to reduce passenger travel times, vehicle operating costs, and traffic related fatalities on targeted federal roads and assist the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) to manage Nigeria's federal road assets in a sustainable manner. The project supports Phase I of the Unity Roads Program, which has two components. The first component is the rehabilitation, upgrading and maintenance of Phase I Roads. The FGN has recognized the benefits of asset management approaches like Output- and Performance-based Road Contracts (OPRCs) and wishes to apply this innovative contracting method to all Phase I Roads. 
WOPRCs are designed to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of road asset management and maintenance. They aim to ensure that the physical condition of the roads under contract is adequate for the need of road users, over the entire period of the contract normally several years. OPRCs significantly expand the role of the private sector, from simple execution of works to management and conservation of road assets. The second component is institutional strengthening and policy reform. This component entails conducting essential sector studies, providing assistance for institutional strengthening of the public sector, and implementation of road sector reforms including creation of the enabling environment for OPRCs to allow for more effective and efficient management of Nigeria's road assets. There will be two subcomponents within this aspect of the project: a) development of a national policy and a 20 year national transportation master plan, and b) development of 10 year Federal Roads Sector Investment Plan. Source: World Bank Weekly Update, April 7, 2008 Comments: The emphasis on sustainability is extremely necessary because our sad experience is that the roads that are built give way to potholes and indeed become dangerous after just four to five months of use. One thing that is clear to all road users is that the government cannot invest money on building a road with the objective that it fails after four months. It is certainly clear that such a project has not delivered. Therefore, it is important to submit that there should be judicious and transparent utilization of funds and thorough supervision of the projects to ensure longevity and durability of the finished product delivered to the public. It is only with such an outcome that the investment would be worthwhile and rewarding. Contract signed for railway infrastructure project for Switzerland’s Gotthard Base Tunnel - world's longest tunnel project Reported by Alexander Matthey in Switzerland  AlpTransit Gotthard Ltd and the Transtec Gotthard Consortium announced on April 29 in Paris the contract signature for the railway infrastructure of the Gotthard Base Tunnel. The Transtec Gotthard Consortium comprises the following companies: Alcatel-Lucent’s legal entity in Switzerland, Alcatel-Lucent Schweiz AG, Zurich, Atel Installationstechnik AG, Zurich, TRSS Thales Rail Signaling Solutions AG, Zurich, Alpine Bau GmbH, Hergiswil, and Balfour Beatty Rail GmbH, Munich, Germany. The contract for this last major construction lot on the Gotthard is worth 1.69 billion Swiss francs (EURO 1.05 billion). Tenders for implementation of the railway infrastructure for the new Gotthard Base Tunnel rail link were received from two consortia. The tenders were rigorously examined and evaluated according to the Swiss Federal Law on Public Procurement.  The contract is for installation of the railway infrastructure systems for the Gotthard Base Tunnel and involves equipping the two single-track tunnels, each 57 km in length, as well as 11 km of over ground lines to the north and south, all to the point where they connect with the existing railway network. The Gotthard Base Tunnel will be the longest tunnel in the world upon completion, ahead of the current record holder, the Seikan Tunnel in Japan. The railway infrastructure installations comprise the railway track, electricity supply and cabling systems for lighting and power, overhead power line and switching systems, tunnel control systems, optical and data networks and operational communications, tunnel radio systems, signalling centres and railway control systems, as well as new signalling and train safety systems. In addition, installation of these systems in the Gotthard Base Tunnel will also require extensive temporary services and systems for logistics and transportation such as construction site railways, workshops, warehouses, personnel accommodation, cooling and ventilation systems, electric power supply, radio and telephone. The Transtec Gotthard Consortium will now prepare the execution project. Once approved by the Federal Office of Transport (FOT), work will begin on the railway infrastructure installation site. Installation of the railway infrastructure through the south portal will start in 2009, and the north portal in 2012. The installation work is estimated to take about seven years. Commercial operation of the Gotthard Base Tunnel with scheduled train services is planned for 2017. Alcatel-Lucent is responsible for designing, integrating, testing and overall project management for the turnkey, integrated delivery of the fixed network, the tunnel’s radio system, a highly available security network for the links to the interlocking system, and a wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) network, initially using the Alcatel-Lucent 1696 Metrospan, that connects to the IT solution, also under the responsibility of Alcatel-Lucent.
 The fixed network includes a data network, a communications installation for operations (voice services) and the tunnel’s control system, which remotely monitors and controls the electro-mechanical installations in the Tunnel Control Center (TCC). The tunnel’s radio system transmits voice and data (via GSM-R and Private Mobile Radio (PMR) for concerns relating to railway technology (operations, maintenance and intervention in case of an incident). In addition, it acts as a platform for mobile telephony providers wishing to offer their services on the Gotthard line. Transtec Gotthard is a consortium composed of leading rail technology partners: Atel, Alcatel-Lucent / Thales, Alpine Bau and Balfour Beatty Rail. The four partners with equal rights provide their core competencies in the following domains: track, overhead contact line, rail security, rail and tunnel control and communication systems, telecommunications, power supply, cabling, logistics as well as planning and design. The six partner companies of Transtec Gotthard - ABB, Burkhalter, IBM, Kummler+Matter, Pöyry and Scheuchzer - are involved in the following leading projects of highspeed rail technology in Switzerland and Europe: Gotthard Base Tunnel (Switzerland), Lötschberg Base Tunnel (Switzerland), new rail segment Mattstetten - Rothrist (Switzerland), new rail segment Nürnberg–Ingolstadt (Switzerland). On May 7, 2007, the Transtec Gotthard Consortium was awarded a contract by AlpTransit Gotthard AG for the implementation of the entire rail technology solution for the new Gotthard Base Tunnel. Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) provides solutions that enable service providers, enterprise and governments worldwide, to deliver voice, data and video communication services to end-users. With operations in more than 130 countries, Alcatel-Lucent is a local partner with global reach. The company has an experienced global services team and one of the largest research, technology and innovation organizations in the telecommunications industry. For more information, visit Alcatel-Lucent on the Internet http://www.alcatel-lucent.com. World Bank funds major Land Registry Project in Turkey Reported by Ahmet Taspinar in Turkey The World Bank has approved a loan equivalent to US$203 million to the Government of Turkey for the Land Registry and Cadastre Modernization Project. The Project will improve the effectiveness and efficiency of land ownership and registration processes in the country.  "The Project constitutes a next generation of Bank operations in the area of land management and cadastre, where the country already has a well functioning property rights regime, but is striving to take the land registry and cadastre data use to the next level by spreading its benefits to people, businesses and multiple sectors, and facilitating better access to real estate information through the e-government platform,” said Wael Zakout, Sector Manager and Task Team Leader for the Project. “This project will also help improve customer service by reducing the time taken to register a property transaction to a few hours, and develop the property appraisal function in line with international standards.” The project will (i) renovate and update cadastre maps to support digital cadastre and land registry information; (ii) make the digital land registry and cadastre information available to public and private entities (iii) improve customer services in land registry and cadastre offices; (iv) improve human resources in the Turkish Land Registry and Cadastre Agency (TKGM); and (v) develop policies and capacity to introduce best international practices in property valuation in Turkey. While the Turkish Cadastre and Registration system is considered one of the most effective in the region and registration of property transactions is done within one day in many offices, there are still many shortcomings to be addressed to ensure that the system modernizes to reach the same service level as in other European countries. Many of the Cadastre and Land Registry offices rely on manual systems, with old documents, some of them dating back to the Ottoman times. In addition, the TAKBIS system (Turkey’s computerized Cadastre and Land Registry Software) runs in only 140 out of the 1000 offices. 
The most challenging aspect is that cadastral maps continue to be in a paper format, vary in accuracy and consistency, and are not linked to the national network. This makes it difficult to support E-government applications as cadastre maps serve as a base mapping for many government applications. Furthermore, in many localities maps are out of date and do not correspond with the ground locations and areas, differing sometimes by up to 10 meters. The project will be funded by an IBRD flexible variable spread loan, with a maturity of 23.5 years and a 5 year grace period. Woman to head missile project for the first time in India Reported by Raju Rao in Chennai Like many other firsts for women in various professions in India, it will be first time that a woman has been appointed to head a key missile project. This is as Project Director of an upgraded version of the 2000 km-long nuclear capable Agni - II missile. 45-year-old Dr Tessy Thomas, one of the around 200 women scientists and technicians working for the DRDO, has been cleared to be appointed to the post of Project Director for the proposed project. She is presently the Associate Project Director of the 3,000 km range Agni-III missile project. With a B.Tech from Thrissur Engineering College, Calicut, and M.Tech from Pune, Tessy is an expert on all solid system propellants.  (In photo: Indian ‘missile woman’ Tessy Thomas) Thomas, who was on Monday honoured along with the entire team of Agni-III by the Prime Minister, said that that She has also worked with Indian Missile Man and former president of India under Dr. A.P.J. Kalam, who encouraged her. When Tessy joined, DRDO was not considered a domain for women as there were only five women in the entire organization. Today the gender equation shows improvement i.e.10 percent of total scientists’ with a strength of nearly 250. Tessy Thomas indicates emerging women power in national advanced technologies. Phoenix lands safely on Mars NASA's Phoenix spacecraft landed in the northern polar region of Mars on Sunday, 25 May 2008 to begin three months of examining a site chosen for its likelihood of having frozen water. Radio signals were received at 7:53 p.m. Eastern Time (0:53 on May 26, GMT), confirming that the Phoenix Mars Lander had survived its difficult final descent and touchdown 15 minutes earlier. The signals took that long to travel from Mars to Earth at the speed of light.  Mission team members at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.; Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver; and the University of Arizona, Tucson, cheered confirmation of the landing and eagerly awaited further information from Phoenix later Sunday night. (image: artist rendering of Phoenix landing, Among those in the JPL control room was NASA Administrator Michael Griffin, who noted this was the first successful Mars landing without airbags since Viking 2 in 1976. "For the first time in 32 years, and only the third time in history, a JPL team has carried out a soft landing on Mars," Griffin said. "I couldn't be happier to be here to witness this incredible achievement." During its 422-million-mile flight from Earth to Mars after launching on August 4, 2007, Phoenix relied on electricity from solar panels during the spacecraft's cruise stage. The cruise stage was jettisoned seven minutes before the lander, encased in a protective shell, entered the Martian atmosphere. Batteries provide electricity until the lander's own pair of solar arrays spread open. "We've passed the hardest part and we're breathing again, but we still need to see that Phoenix has opened its solar arrays and begun generating power," said JPL's Barry Goldstein, the Phoenix project manager. If all goes well, engineers will learn the status of the solar arrays between 7 and 7:30 p.m. Pacific Time (10 and 10:30 p.m. Eastern Time) from a Phoenix transmission relayed via NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter.  (Barry Goldstein and Principle Investigator Peter Smith – photo courtesy of NASA) The team will also be watching for the transmission that confirms that masts for the stereo camera and the weather station have swung to their vertical positions. Another critical deployment will be the first use of the 7.7-foot-long robotic arm on Phoenix, which will not be attempted for at least two days. Researchers will use the arm to get samples of soil and ice into laboratory instruments on the lander. Phoenix uses hardware from a spacecraft built for a 2001 launch that was canceled in response to the loss of a similar Mars spacecraft during a 1999 landing attempt. Researchers who proposed the Phoenix mission in 2002 saw the unused spacecraft as a resource for pursuing a new science opportunity. Earlier in 2002, Mars Odyssey discovered that plentiful water ice lies just beneath the surface throughout much of high-latitude Mars. NASA chose the Phoenix proposal over 24 other proposals to become the first endeavor in the Mars Scout program of competitively selected missions. The Phoenix mission is led by Peter Smith at the University of Arizona with project management at JPL and development partnership at Lockheed Martin, Denver. International contributions come from the Canadian Space Agency; the University of Neuchatel, Switzerland; the universities of Copenhagen and Aarhus, Denmark; Max Planck Institute, Germany; and the Finnish Meteorological Institute. For more about the Phoenix program, visit http://www.nasa.gov/phoenix.
 Created in 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is America’s focal point for research, development and exploration of outer space. In 2005, the US President and Congress committed the United States to exploring the solar system and beyond: completing assembly of the International Space Station, flying the new Crew Exploration Vehicle no later than 2014, returning astronauts to the moon by the end of the next decade, and sending human missions to Mars and beyond. For over 50 years, NASA has been leading the world in the development and usage of advanced program and project management. Additional information about NASA can be found at www.nasa.gov. Elementary Education Project in India to receive US$600 million Reported by Raju Rao in Chennai The World Bank has announced a US$600 million credit to support the Government of India's ongoing Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) program, a nationwide centrally sponsored education program designed to provide all children aged 6 to 14 with education of satisfactory quality. The Second Elementary Education Project is intended to improve quality and access, and to promote equity by enabling hard-to-reach children to attend school. It will create better learning conditions for all children and provide capacity building and academic support to state and sub-state education structures. The project will also help monitor learning outcomes, and support research and evaluation of quality initiatives. India has made strong progress in enhancing access to education in recent years. In 2002, India made elementary education a fundamental right of every child. Between 2003 and 2005, the number of out-of-school children was reduced from 25 million to about 13.4 million. The transition rates from primary to upper primary also improved, from 75 percent in 2002 to 83 percent in 2006. There has also been a significant reduction in gender gaps. Access for children from marginalized groups, minorities, extremely poor households, and educationally and economically lagging states has increased.  “The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan program has served as a powerful vehicle to mobilize stakeholders at all community, district, state, and national levels around the objective of ensuring that every child from 6 to 14 years is included in the education system,” said Isabel Guerrero, World Bank Country Director for India. “The challenge now is to include those hardest to reach and to ensure that children get the quality education which is a critical foundation for both higher levels of education and creating the skills needed to have a significant impact on economic development.” This new project is the second phase of support by the development partners to the SSA program. With more and more children now entering school, the focus in this next phase is on quality with equity. In addition to capacity building and monitoring, the project will also support plans to enable hard-to-reach children to attend school. In areas where access to education remains low, it will support provision of teachers and construction of primary and upper primary schools. It will also support provision of free textbooks and grants to schools to subsidize student enrolment. “The first phase of development partners’ support to the program saw a rapid expansion of primary school facilities across the country, especially in remote and socially disadvantaged areas,” said co-team leaders Amit Dar, World Bank Lead Education Economist, and Venita Kaul, World Bank Senior Education Specialist. “SSA II focuses on moving towards the achievement of quality goals and improved learning outcomes. Achieving these goals will play a big role in moving towards the achievement of the education Millennium Development Goals on a global scale.” Total cost of the SSA II is estimated at US$10.7 billion, of which the states of India will contribute close to 36.9 percent, the Government of India will contribute around 53.7 percent and development partners 9.4 percent. The credit will be provided by the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank’s concessionary lending arm and has 35 years to maturity and a 10-year grace period. For more information visit: http://go.worldbank.org/DEOZ6MN560. Source: World Bank press release, May 15, 2008 Jason 2 - International Near-Earth space Project The International Ocean Surface Topography Mission (OSTM)/Jason-2, a project dedicated to monitoring sea-level rise and improving weather and climate forecasts, is set for launch in June. The project will help scientists better monitor and understand trends in sea-level rise and study ocean circulation and its links to Earth's climate. The mission is a collaboration between NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the French space agency Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT).  The OSTM/Jason 2 is an international satellite mission that will extend into the next decade the continuous climate data record of precise sea surface height measurements begun in 1992 by the joint NASA/CNES Topex/Poseidon mission and continued by the NASA/CNES Jason 1 mission in 2001. Data from the mission will help scien¬tists better understand how ocean circulation and climate change are related, and to monitor changes in global sea levels. They will benefit a variety of fields, including marine meteorology and forecasting of ocean conditions; operational oceanography; seasonal forecasting; climate monitoring; and ocean, Earth system and climate research. The mission will serve as a bridge to transition the future collection of these measurements to the world’s weather and climate forecasting agencies. These agencies will use the data for short, seasonal and long range weather and climate forecasting. The mission is designed to last at least three years. Following the same ground track as Jason 1, OSTM/Jason 2 will assume the older spacecraft’s near-circular orbit at an altitude of 1,336 kilometers (830 miles) above the equator. It will com¬plete one orbit every 112.43 minutes, and return to the same point on Earth every 10 days. It will provide ocean topography data for 95 percent of Earth’s ice-free oceans, covering the globe between 66 degrees north and 66 degrees south of the equator.  OSTM/Jason 2 will be launched from Space Launch Complex 2W at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, on a two-stage Delta II model 7320-10 launch vehicle. An international science team, established jointly by the four mission partners, will address the mission’s science objectives and goals, which include the following:
The basic science goals of ocean topography missions, including OSTM/Jason 2, Jason 1 and Topex/Poseidon, are to: 
In addition to carrying on the groundbreaking work done by Topex/Poseidon and Jason 1, OSTM/Jason 2 is expected to:
Built in France under contract to CNES by Thales Alenia Space, OSTM/Jason 2 is the fifth of Some of the practical applications resulting from satellite observations of the ocean and planet have included the following: 
OSTM/Jason 2 will advance understanding of many ocean and climate phenomena that are still not well understood, while improving weather and climate forecasts. OSTM/Jason 2 will generate short-range ocean prediction maps that forecast, a few weeks in advance, the position of currents and their intensity, and the position and scales of eddies and thermal fronts. These products will benefit a variety of applications including marine safety, marine pollution, ship routing, navy operations, oil drilling, coastal forecasting and fish stock management. Medium-term data from OSTM/Jason 2 will also feed the world’s weather prediction agencies, helping improve weather prediction models. Data from OSTM/Jason 2 will help scientists predict the likelihood of seasonal disruptions in rainfall and temperature for periods of up to nine months. By correlating observations of ocean variability collected over long periods with findings about severe weather occurrences such as droughts, floods and hurricanes, meteorologists can improve seasonal weather forecasting. This will help save lives and property, while supporting the planning of energy supplies, agricul¬ture or water management, among other areas. Small is still beautiful - Volkswagen plans low cost car UP! for India Reported by Raju Rao in Chennai EUROPE'S largest car maker, Volkswagen, plans to roll out its low priced car "Up!" at Rs 3 lakh in India by 2010-11. It will be the cheapest car from the Volkswagen stable, which is better known for luxury cars like Audi and Phaeton. The cheapest car from the German car maker so far has been from group company Skoda, which sells the Fabia at Rs 5 lakh and above in India.  Volkswagen India president and MD Joerg Mueller (pictured at left) said: “We are not in the Tata Nano segment, but have a similar high technology small car that conforms to world safety and emission standards. UP! is currently in the concept stage and will be available in India in the next three years. The car makes perfect sense for India, which has many metros and cities that are faced with parking and pollution problems.” India, the largest small car market in the world, sells close to 1 million such cars, which is 70% of its total passenger car sales. Since it is growing at double digit every year, global car makers, known for their luxury sedans, want to tap the small car market in India. This is also because the automobile industry in the US and Europe are stagnant, with sub-prime crisis adding to their woes. The world’s two largest car makers, Toyota and General Motors, are also working on ultra-cheap cars to sell in emerging markets. American major General Motors has joined the low-cost bandwagon and is developing its fuel efficient $3,500 small car in different global R&D centres. GM head, Asia Pacific, Nick Reilly had earlier said, “We are working on our lower-cost architecture and our engineers are developing something similar to Tata’s Nano, but at a different price point.” Toyota has said that building a car to sell for $2,500 might be difficult given its global quality standards, but the company is aiming on that price point.  Under pressure from rising oil prices, (which touched a record $135/barrel), global car makers have made a beeline to compete in the low-cost segment. Pune-based Bajaj Auto is working with French major Renault to develop a $2,500-car by 2010, while South Korea’s Hyundai Motors is also developing a $4,000 car during the same period. Hyundai Motor India president, Ashok Jha said, “India is predominantly a small car market and if all goes well, our low-cost cars currently in development stage will hit the market by 2010. India will be one of the foremost markets to have such a car.” Volkswagen will blend its German technology with high localisation in India to achieve the proposed price for UP! “We will compete will other car manufacturers on price. We will utilise Volkswagen Group’s twin plants at Aurangabad and upcoming Pune facility to drive economics of scale for India specific prices,” Mr Mueller said. India, the largest small car market in the world, sells close to 1 million such cars. Sources and References: Economic Times 24th April 2008
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