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Ourspace winner pleads for Goolwa youth centre

April 12, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

One of the winners of the National Youth Week Ourspace competition, Goolwa local Oliver Delvecchio, says he hopes his video will help to promote youth issues in the South Australian region.

Youth Week was launched with a free concert in Victor Harbor yesterday.

Mr Delvecchio’s project showed the need to give more recognition to young people in the area.

He says he hopes it will lead to the establishment of a youth centre for the town.

“The areas kind of infamous for its youth culture, kind of screaming out for help, and just nothing really happening because of [lack of] funds and that sort of thing, so I really pleaded about that, I really wanted it to be a catalyst to promote youth issues in the area,” he said.

Mr Delvecchio was in the crowd of young people who converged on Victor Harbor yesterday for the national launch of Youth Week.

He says a youth centre would give Goolwa youth something to do.

“And not hate the area – because it’s a beautiful area – so it’s really important to keep them here and keep that kind of youth culture going,” he said.

The other Ourspace winner was Anna Krjatia from Parramatta in Sydney.

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: catalyst, crowd, Delvecchio, National Launch, National Youth Week, Ourspace, Parramatta, South Australian Region, sydney, Victor Harbor, youth culture

Mildura casino plans unveiled

March 27, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

Casino developer John Haddad has released concept plans for the riverfront Jewel Casino at Mildura.

The $400 million gaming, entertainment and hotel development will overlook the Murray riverfront.

It will include gaming, a 220 room hotel, a health retreat and convention centre.

The Melbourne businessman estimates the $400 million gaming, entertainment and hotel development will create 3,500 jobs during construction and about 1,500 jobs once it is operating.

Mr Haddad, who has built five other casinos, says the casino will transform the region’s tourism sector

“Most people I have spoken to say things like Mildura, we love it. We’ll go there one day,” he said.

“I think the catalyst to change that around is the casino. So we want them to say Mildura, we’re coming.”

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Uni student 95 not out

March 25, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

The world’s oldest university graduate says he hopes his return to study might inspire others to do the same during Seniors Week.

95-year-old Allen Stewart made history in 2006 when he received his law degree.

He’s now enrolled in a Master of Clinical Sciences course at the Southern Cross University.

“As I try to keep a certain amount of physical exercise going to get physical fitness, I think it’s terribly important to have the fitness of mind, or intellectual fitness, and to study and do the assignments, use your computer regularly, I think this all helps to keep your intellectual mind going well,” Mr Stewart said.

Mr Stewart says he was inspired by his own family.

“My daughter at the age of 70 is now studying, doing an under-graduate arts course at the same university that I’m at,” he said.

“Actually she was the catalyst that introduced me to the university and induced me to take up further studies,” Mr Stewart said.

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STOCKS NEWS EUROPE-Actelion slumps on key drug failure

March 2, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

Shares in Actelion (ATLN.VX), Europe’s biggest biotech company, tumble over 14 percent after the group’s key drug Tracleer failed to cut mortality rates in patients suffering from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

“Positive BUILD-3 results were a cornerstone of our buy recommendation for Actelion. This miss removes a significant catalyst to being able to significantly increase revenue expectations for Tracleer going forward,” Vontobel analyst Andrew Weiss says.

For more double click on [ID:nLDE62004L]

Reuters Messaging rm://katie.reid.reuters.com@reuters.net

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Himachal Pradesh Govt. moves to produce IT friendly business landscape

September 19, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Sep.18 (ANI): Recognizing the enormous potential of Information Technology in acting as a catalyst for the Tier – II growth of Suburban India, The Government of Himachal Pradesh (GoHP) is moving to produce an IT friendly business landscape.

To close the technological gap and nab the marquee, various initiatives are being put in place by the GoHP. Tax Breaks, Exemption from various duties and levies and imports are certain defined benefits for the industry to set base at Himachal Pradesh.

The IT Park cum Township falls will come up in Solan District of Solan, about 20 kilometres from Shimla.

The total area of the project is 64.73 acres. The site is located at a distance of four kilometers from Kiarighat. Kiarighat is on Chandigarh – Shimla highway (NH-22) on midway between Solan and Shimla at an approximately equal distance of 23 kilometres.

Conceptualized as an Integrated Development – offering both residential and commercial options, the project’s developmental contours will include built-up IT space of 1.1 million square feet. Built to suit plots for IT in 9.5 acres of land, a township for of 1.31 million square feet, a project cost of 408 crore rupees.

Commercially structured on the Public Private Partnership format. The developer shall be responsible for designing,financing, constructing, operating, maintaining and development of the IT Park cum Township at Waknaghat.

The implementing agency will be the Department of Information Technology, Government of Himachal Pradesh.

To promote the project and the township, an investor Meet will be held in Delhi on September 23. A visit to the site will be organised on September 30, while a pre-bid meeting will be held on October 3, 2009.

The last date for submission of proposal is October 26. (ANI)

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Catalyst simulations for fuel cells may make clean cars a reality

September 19, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Sep 18 (ANI): University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers are working towards developing better catalyst for fuel cells in a bid to make clean cars a reality.

If successful, the researchers could make a car that runs on hydrogen from solar power, and produces water instead of carbon emissions.

Materials science and engineering assistant professor Dane Morgan and Ph.D. student Edward (Ted) Holby have developed a computational model that could optimise an important component of fuel cells, making it possible for the technology to have a more widespread use.

The researchers investigated how particle size is related to the overall stability of a material, and showed with their model that increasing the particle size of a fuel cell catalyst decreases degradation and therefore increases the useful lifetime of a fuel cell.

Fuel cells are electrochemical devices that facilitate a reaction between hydrogen and oxygen, producing electrical power and forming water.

In the type of fuel cells Morgan is researching, called proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), hydrogen is split into a proton and electron at one side of the fuel cell (the anode).

The proton moves through the device while the electron is forced to travel in an external circuit, where it can perform useful work, while at the other side of the fuel cell (the cathode), the protons, electrons and oxygen combine to form water, which is the only waste product.

One of the many hurdles to producing efficient fuel cells for widespread use is the catalyst added to aid the reaction between protons, electrons and oxygen at the cathode.

Current fuel cells use platinum and platinum alloys as a catalyst. While platinum can withstand the corrosive fuel cell environment, it is expensive and not very abundant.

Thus, to maximize platinum use, researchers use catalysts made with platinum particles as small as two nanometers, which are approximately 10 atoms across.

These tiny structures have a large surface area on which the fuel cell reaction occurs.

However, platinum catalysts this small degrade very quickly, which means that the fuel cell doesn’t last long.

The researchers have found a possible solution to the rapid degradation problem-when it comes to catalyst particle size, sometimes smaller isn’t better.

In their modelling work, they showed that if the particle size of a platinum catalyst is increased to four or five nanometers, which is approximately 20 atoms across, the level of degradation significantly decreases.

This means the catalyst and the fuel cell as a whole can continue to function for much longer than if the particle size was only two or three nanometers.

“Fuel cells are just one of many energy technologies – solar, battery, etc. – with enormous potential to reduce our dependence on oil and our carbon emissions. Computer simulation offers a powerful tool to understand and develop new materials at the heart of these energy technologies,” said Morgan. (ANI)

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Banking transforms lives in rural areas in northeast

September 17, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Agartala (Tripura)/ Jorhat (Assam), Sep.16 (ANI): Banking services are playing a major role in transforming the lives of people in rural areas of the northeast India.

To upgrade infrastructure and attract more investment, banks have undertaken several economic upliftment policies and schemes.

In Tripura, a financial outreach camp was recently organized at the State’s Pitra village to raise awareness among villagers about banking and central banking services. It also intended to bring them under the fold of mainstream banking.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) took the initiative along with different functioning banks in the State. It came as a boon to thousands of villagers, especially farmers, who enthusiastically participated in the camp.

Villagers were familiarized with various banking facilities, security features of currency notes. They were given an opportunity to exchange their soiled and mutilated currency notes and exchange currency notes for coins.

The participants put up their queries about banking facilities in the area.

“Here we do not have any banking system. Because of the camp the villagers would be benefited. With bank accounts, people will get to know about savings and this will help them in the future,” said Bubantala Jamatia, a Pitra villager.

“This outreach camp has helped poor villagers and we are now opening accounts without depositing any money,” said Anishmia Sarkar, a villager. o improve the banking sector in northeast, the Reserve bank of India has set up a Committee on Financial Sector Development.

The committee has made several major recommendations, including financial inclusion, opening of bank branches and enhancement of credit flow to the region.

“As far as Reserve Bank of India is concerned, the approach is that we work together, the State government, the banks, the non-governmental organizations, the local Panchayati Raj institutions and the Reserve Bank will act like a catalyst to make people come together an work for economic development,” said Usha Thorat, Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India.

The United Bank of India (UBI) has drawn up a plan for economic upliftment of the seven northeastern States called ‘Vision 2020 for northeast’ aimed to cover rural people.

‘Vision 2020 for northeast, the plan, was declared during a press conference by UBI held at Tocklai in Jorhat in Assam.

It would include introduction of low rate interest loans for the poor, unemployed youths, farmers, women, self-help groups, small scale industries and entrepreneurs among others.

The bank also handed over rupees 750 million loan to 8,673 Union Bank of India (UBI) account holders.The loans have benefited us a lot. The bank provided us loans based on the need of the customers. We are really satisfied,” said C. Saikia, one of the customers.

At present there are 252 Union Bank of India branches in the northeast region of the country. The bank is setting up 15 branches in different parts of Assam. Two branches each will also be set up in Manipur and Nagaland. By Pinaki Das / Vaschipem Kamodang (ANI)

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Ancient oceans yield clues to the origins of animal life on Earth

September 10, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, September 10 (ANI): Analysis of a rock type found only in the world’s oldest oceans has shed new light on how large animals first got a foothold on the Earth.

By analysing the isotopes of chromium in iron-rich sediments formed in the ancient oceans, a scientific team, led by Professor Robert Frei at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, has found that a rise in atmospheric oxygen levels 580 million years ago was closely followed by the evolution of animal life.

The data offers new insight into how animal life – and ultimately humans – first came to roam the planet.

“Because animals evolved in the sea, most previous research has focussed on oceanic oxygen levels,” explained Newcastle University’s Dr Simon Poulton, one of the authors of the research paper.

“Our research confirms for the first time that a rise in atmospheric oxygen was the driving force for oxygenation of the oceans 580 million years ago, and that this was the catalyst for the evolution of large complex animals,” he added.

Distinctive chromium isotope signals occur when continental rocks are altered and weathered as a result of oxygen levels rising in the atmosphere.

The chromium released by this weathering is then washed into the seas and deposited in the deepest oceans – trapped in iron-rich rocks on the sea bed.

Using this new data, the research team has not only been able to establish the trigger for the evolution of animals, but have also demonstrated that oxygen began to pulse into the atmosphere earlier than previously thought.

“Oxygen levels actually began to rise 2.8 billion years ago,” explained Dr Poulton.

“But, instead of this rise being steady and gradual over time, what we saw in our data was a very unstable situation with short-lived episodes of free oxygen in the atmosphere early in Earth’s history, followed by plummeting levels around 2 billion years ago,” he said.

“It was not until a second rise in atmospheric oxygen 580 million years ago that larger complex animals were able to get a foothold on the Earth,” he added. (ANI)

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FM to inaugurate annual Conference of Chief Commissioners and Directors General of Customs and Central Excise

September 10, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Sep.9 (ANI): Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will inaugurate the two-day All India Annual Conference of the Chief Commissioners and Directors General of Customs and Central Excise here today.

The Conference is being organized by the Central Board of Excise and Customs, Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance from September 8 to 9 in the national capital.

The conference will focus on the functioning of the Department and the emerging challenges before it.

It will have a session on administering the Goods and Service Tax (GST), the present status and the Department’s preparedness for its implementation.

Besides, it will also deliberate on other important issues such as IT initiatives, Audit controls, Revenue Collections, and Border management.

The conclave will also discuss the initiatives to fine-tune the tax administration and measures to improve compliance levels in Indirect Taxation.

The conference will act as a catalyst for strengthening the Indirect Tax administration. It will also provide an opportunity to the Chief Commissioners and Directors General to interact with each other and discuss issues of general and common nature.

The Minister of State for Finance (Revenue) S.S. Palanimanickam will preside over the valedictory function. (ANI)

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Tribals attend RBI’s financial outreach camp in Tripura

September 6, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Agartala, Sep. 6 (ANI): Thousands of tribal families turned out to participate in a financial outreach camp organized by the Reserve Bank of India in Pitra village of Tripura.

The camp was organised with the objective of bringing awareness among villagers about banking norms.

“Bank wants to lend for projects which would generate economic activity will lead to development of north east.

So we have to be able to work together. The state government, the banks, the non-governmental organisations, the locals, Panchayati Raj institutions and the Reserve Bank will act like a catalyst to make people come together and work together for economic development,” said Usha Thorat, deputy governor, Reserve Bank of India.

Organised on the occasion of Platinum Year celebration of Reserve Bank, the camp witnessed hundreds of villagers gathered at the stalls of different banks for opening of new bank accounts.

The villagers were also informed and familiarized with various banking facilities, security features of currency notes, exchange their soiled and mutilated currency notes, exchange currency notes for coins and also look into their complains with regards to banking facilities.

“In the village there is no banking system and this camp will be of great benefit to us. The villagers had no means of saving but now we think we can save something for our future,” Bubantala Jamatia, a villager

Under the model, post offices, cooperatives, NGOs, financial institutions, self-help groups, retired employees of state or central government may act as an agent of the banks and provide services to people. (ANI)

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UNICEF celebrates 200 episodes of Kyunki… Jeena Issi Ka Naam Hai.

August 28, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Aug.28 (ANI): UNICEF recently celebrated the telecast of the 200th episode of its entertainment education serial Kyunki… Jeena Issi Ka Naam Hai on Doordarshan National.

A serial with all the emotional and dramatic twists and turns that make soaps so popular, Kyunki… has emerged as an innovative and effective agent for behavior change communication amongst Indian television viewers.

Watched by over 125 million viewers across India, the gripping social drama promotes life-enhancing, life-saving messages, critical to the welfare and survival of children and mothers everywhere.

From safe motherhood to HIV prevention, infant feeding to girls’ education, Kyunki promotes prosocial attitudes, behaviours, and practices that contribute directly to the reduction of infant and maternal mortality rates

Naysan Sahba, Programme Communication Specialist at UNICEF India Country Office, who conceptualized the serial says “When we began to work on the show’s concept about four years ago, at the height of the popularity of the saas-bahu sagas, everybody said impossible, there’s no audience for this. Well, we went ahead, carefully if courageously, and you can imagine our delight in that not only is our show doing well but a new wave of socially conscious TV serials, serials tackling hard-hitting issues effecting women and children, have followed suit and are taking the country by storm” .

Kyunki… has a rather unique viewership including unexpected regulars in the form of youngsters and men. A favorite of many across India, the serial is one of the top rankers in its primetime spot of 8:30 PM to 9 PM and is the leading daily soap on DD National.

Not shying away from taking up socially sensitive issues such as the ill effects of child marriage and early pregnancy, gender equality, proper use of contraceptives and prevention of HIV/AIDS, Kyunki… has been a catalyst in encouraging dialogues amongst young girls and families in rural India about things that they earlier had next to no say about.

Concurrent audience research shows that there has been a consistent increase in the number of viewers who say they intend to take action as a direct result of watching Kyunki…, including informing others about the importance of education, motivating children to join school, immunizing one’s own children and regularly washing hands with soap .

The serial has also become a helpful tool and an excellent reference point for frontline workers who promote positive changes in social and health behaviors through interpersonal communication. In depth interviews with health workers, teachers and other influencers has shown that Kyunki… in fact reinforces many of the same ideas they work with and introduces contemporary issues in an interesting, entertaining and practical manner. (ANI)

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US navy chemists try to turn seawater into jet fuel

August 19, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, August 19 (ANI): In a new experiment, US navy chemists have processed seawater into unsaturated short-chain hydrocarbons that with further refining could be made into kerosene-based jet fuel.

According to a report by New Scientist, the process involves extracting carbon dioxide (CO2) dissolved in the water and combining it with hydrogen – obtained by splitting water molecules using electricity – to make a hydrocarbon fuel.

It uses a variant of a chemical reaction called the Fischer-Tropsch process, which is used commercially to produce a gasoline-like hydrocarbon fuel from syngas, a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen often derived from coal.

Robert Dorner, a Naval Research Laboratory chemist in Washington DC and first author of a new paper on the technique, said that CO2 is rarely used in the Fischer-Tropsch process because of its chemical stability.

“But CO2′s abundance, combined with concerns about global warming, make it an attractive potential feedstock,” Dorner said.

“Although the gas forms only a small proportion of air – around 0.04 per cent – ocean water contains about 140 times that concentration,” he added.

The navy team has been experimenting to find out how to steer the CO2-producing process away from producing unwanted methane to produce more of the hydrocarbons wanted.

In the conventional Fischer-Tropsch process, carbon monoxide and hydrogen are heated in the presence of a catalyst to initiate a complex chain of reactions that produce a mixture of methane, waxes and liquid fuel compounds.

Dorner and colleagues found that using the usual cobalt-based catalyst on seawater-derived CO2 produced almost entirely methane gas.

Switching to an iron catalyst resulted in only 30 per cent methane being produced, with the remainder short-chain hydrocarbons that could be refined into jet fuel.

According to Heather Willauer, the navy chemist leading the project, the efficiency needs to be much improved, perhaps by finding a different catalyst. (ANI)

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Nancy Goodman Brinker – Breast Cancer Survivor – Catalyst – United States Ambassador to Hungary – President Barack Obama – Presidential Medal of Freedom – Nation’s Highest Civilian Honor

August 14, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

CONGRATULATION TO NANCY BRINKER

Nancy Goodman Brinker born on December 6, 1946, in Peoria, Illinois is the founder of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, an organization named after her only sister, Susan, who died from breast cancer in 1980 at age 36. Brinker was also United States Ambassador to Hungary from 2001 to 2003 and Chief of Protocol of the United States from 2007 to the end of the George W. Bush administration.

A breast cancer survivor herself, Brinker uses her experience to heighten understanding of the disease. She speaks publicly on the importance of patient’s rights and medical advancements in breast cancer research and treatment.She is currently serving as the World Health organization’s Goodwill Ambassador for Cancer Control.

Brinker has helped build Komen by fostering a coalition of relationships within the business community, government, and volunteer sectors in the United States.

For her work on breast cancer research, Time magazine named Brinker to its 2008 list of the 100 most influential people in the world.Calling her “a catalyst to ease suffering in the world”.

President Barack Obama honored Brinker with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor on August 12th 2009.

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Jermaine Jackson to resume solo career?

July 10, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, July 9 (ANI): Jermaine Jackson has been caught amid speculation that the time is right for him to re-launch his music career.

The former ‘Jackson 5′ member touched hearts all over the world with his perfect rendition of Charlie Chaplin’s “Smile” at the memorial service of his younger brother, the late King of Pop Michael, on Tuesday.

And the late star’s long-time family friend and biographer Stacy Brown thinks that Jermaine may have the right opportunity at hand to return to the stage.

“This could definitely be a catalyst for Jermaine to resume his career. He was the only other brother to make his mark as a solo act and this could now be the right time for him to come back,” Fox News quoted Brown as saying.

Jermaine’s publicist was not available for comment. (ANI)

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Steve Waugh launches global charity foundation in New Delhi

June 20, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New Delhi, June 19 (ANI): Former Australian skipper Steve Waugh launched his charity foundation called ‘Steve Waugh Global Foundation’ in New Delhi on Friday.

Addressing a press conference here, Waugh said that the foundation would manage and coordinate his charity work around the globe.

The first project of the foundation will be an extension of Waugh’s existing charity work, ‘Udayan’, home for the rehabilitation for leprosy affected children or those whose parents suffer from leprosy.

“The first one of those would be ‘Udayan’, obviously going forth we would be looking at other worthwhile projects to support and the area will be rare diseases and rare illness. And over time we will be the appropriate people in India to identify the charities to support and I am hoping that we will have presence all over India and not just in Calcutta,” he said.

Waugh said it was after meeting Mother Teresa at the missionaries of Charity in Calcutta years ago that inspired him to raise funds for the underprivileged.

“I realised with my profile and my influence I could raise awareness to causes and I could raise significant funds and make a real, tangible difference, and not just a token difference and, that got me thinking that I should take this to the next level and maybe Mother Teresa was a catalyst for this,” said Waugh.

The Steve Waugh foundation will help change things for children with rare diseases and give hope to their families who have nowhere to turn.

The foundation would also raise awareness towards the needs of such children and increase international cooperation in the service, identification and treatment of rare diseases. (ANI)

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Calcutta, catalyst, charities, Charity Foundation, charity work, global charity, global foundation, globe, international cooperation, leprosy, missionaries of charity, mother teresa, New Delhi, next level, rare diseases, rare illness, skipper, Steve Waugh, tangible difference, worthwhile projects

Carpool website to help Indian Kerala techies go green

May 25, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Thiruvananthapuram, May 25 (IANS) Companies based in Kerala’s Technopark, an IT park here, Monday launched a carpooling website for IT professionals in the state as part of its green computing initiatives.

The website, www.parkcarpool.in, was jointly launched by the Group of Technopark Companies (GTECH), a body representing the chief executives of the Technopark firms, and Palnar Transmedia, a city-based software firm.

The site would encourage IT professionals to travel together and thereby save money, fuel and reduce global warming and traffic on the roads, GTECH officials said.

Those who are interested can register in the website for free by submitting some basic information and search for travel mates who commute to the Technopark campus or Infopark in Kochi.

Kerala has more than 30,000 IT professionals working at these two IT parks.

GTECH President S. Rama Rao said there was an urgent need to create awareness in the industry about the benefits of carpooling primarily to reduce the harmful effects of carbon dioxide emissions from vehicles.

GTECH secretary Satish Babu said the primary objective of the carpooling was to enhance environmental consciousness.

“This unique model of GTECH acts as a catalyst in promoting the cause of environmental sustainability in Kerala. It is also in tune with the National Policy on Conservation of Fuel,” said Babu.

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Lying to boss or client can be good for your business

May 22, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Melbourne, May 22 (ANI): Telling white lies can actually be good for business, says an expert.

Professor Stephen Teo, Associate Dean of Business at the University of Western Sydney, said that lying to boss or a client can actually strengthen the relationship and help businesses run more effectively.

“People practice white lies as a way to manage relationships,” News.com.au quoted Professor Teo as saying.

“It’s OK and often it actually cultivates a better relationship.

“We all want to paint a nice picture and telling a white lie is how people do this,” he added.

However stretching the truth can land you into more trouble.

“In terms of legal risk to a business or individuals, a white lie can potentially have serious implications if it’s told in the right context,” said Lesley Maclou a partner at Harmers Workplace Lawyers.

“A white lie could be the thing that is the catalyst for a deal falling over or termination of employment,” she said.

She also advised people to be careful while bending the truth or leaving out important details because if you’re caught there can be serious consequences.

“Beware because something you may think is insignificant could have, in a particular context, significant implications,” she added.

Here are some of the most common business lies.

Lies by contractors

1. I’m really excited about your project = I’m really excited about your money.

2. I’m flexible to meet anytime this week = I have no work on at the moment.

3. I’ve been working on that all morning = I’ll start on that this afternoon.

4. I’ve scheduled that in for tomorrow = @#$% I forgot about that, but I’ve just written it down.

5. Do you have a budget in mind? = Can I get away with charging even more than usual?

Lies by clients

1. Your invoice has been processed = I did print your invoice, but left it on the printer.

2. We want something really ‘out there’ and quirky = We want something really conservative.

3. I’ll send you a full brief early this week = I’ll send you a wad of random documents next week.

4. Can you just throw something together? = Can you do a proper job but charge a lot less?

5. Can you give me a ballpark figure? = Exactly how much will it be? I’ll hold you to it later. (ANI)

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New sponge-like material beneficial for the environment

May 18, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, May 18 (ANI): A team of chemists has designed a new sponge-like material that can remove mercury from polluted water, easily separate hydrogen from other gases and is a more effective catalyst than the one currently used to pull sulfur out of crude oil.

Hydrodesulfurization is a widely used catalytic chemical process that removes sulfur from natural gas and refined petroleum products, such as gasoline and diesel and jet fuels.

Without the process, which is highly optimized, people would be burning sulfur, which contributes to acid rain.

Scientists have tried to improve hydrodesulfurization, or HDS, but have made no progress. Many consider it an optimized process.

Now, the Northwestern researchers, in collaboration with colleagues at Western Washington University, report that their material is twice as active as the conventional catalyst used in HDS, while at the same time being made of the same parts.

The material, cobalt-molybdenum-sulfur, which is black, brittle and freeze-dried, is a new class of chalcogels, a family of material discovered only a few years ago at Northwestern.

Chalcogels are random networks of metal-sulfur atoms with very high surface areas.

The new chalcogel is made from common elements, is stable when exposed to air or water and can be used as a powder.

This is the first report of chalcogels being used for catalysis and gas separation.

Mercouri G. Kanatzidis, Charles E. and Emma H. Morrison, Professor of Chemistry in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, and doctoral student Santanu Bag made this catalyst using a method different from that of the conventional catalyst.

The Northwestern material is a gel made of cobalt, nickel, molybdenum and sulfur that then is freeze-dried, producing a sponge-like material with a very high surface area.

It is this high surface area and the material’s stability under catalytic conditions that make the cobalt-molybdenum-sulfur chalcogel so active.

The researchers also demonstrated that the new chalcogel soaks up toxic heavy metals from polluted water like no other material.

The chalcogel removed nearly 99 percent of the mercury from contaminated water containing several parts per million.

Mercury likes to bind to sulfur, and the chalcogel is full of sulfur atoms.

In addition to being a better HDS catalyst and a mercury sponge, the chalcogel also is very effective at gas separation.

The researchers showed that the material easily removes carbon dioxide (CO2) from hydrogen, an application that could be useful in the hydrogen economy. (ANI)

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Assam self-help group generates employment for rural women

May 2, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Sodial (Jorhat), Apr 28 (ANI): A self-help group (SHG) that mooted a weaving unit in Assam has facilitated a large number of women economically self sufficient by generating employment for them.his self-help group named ‘Bhogdoi’ and based at Sodial village in Jorhat region was the brainchild of Arunima Kachari in 2001.

Ever since its inception, Arunima and her other nine associates have nurtured ‘Bhogdoi’ with utmost dedication.

They started their business with just ten workers by installing only ten looms, but within a period of five years, the number of looms has increased to 45. Now after eight years, they have more than 100 weavers working wonders on 85 looms.

Hundreds of women from this village have benefited from ‘Bhogdoi’.

“I took the initiative of setting up a weaving centre for the womenfolk of my village. Then I started imparting training in weaving to unemployed women of my village. Later, we formed the ‘Bhogdoi’ self-help group. Many have benefited from this weaving business,” Kachari.

“We hardly asked for any assistance from the government. We collected money on our own and started the unit. I never thought we would reach this far. Later, in 2002, we started exhibiting our products. At these exhibitions, we sell our traditional attires like Tongali (waist cloth), Muga (handloom silk), Mekhela Sador (bridal trousseau), gamocha (towel also used to tie around the head),” Kachari added.

The enterprising Arunima motivated scores of girls and even housewives to be a part of the Bhogdoi where she taught them the rudiments of spinning and weaving.

“I am a regular worker in this self-help group. I joined the training after which I was also given a job in this unit. Now, I can send my children to a good school and can provide them good food,” said Dipali Saikia, member-worker.

Since, the products made by this SHG are of high quality and fine finishing, the demand is very high within the district and adjoining areas.

Right from day-one, ‘Bhogdoi ‘has relied only on traditional modes. The spinning wheels are made of bicycle wheel while the looms are bamboo or cane and wood-based.

‘Bhogdoi’ SHG has participated in various handloom exhibitions across the country and bagged a couple of awards conferred by the Government of Assam and also the Central Government.

There are more than 85,000 SHGs functioning in Assam, playing the role of a vital catalyst in the overall socio-economic scenario.

The main spheres in which these SHGs are active happen to be agriculture, handloom, poultry and dairy farming, food processing units in the cottage industry sector, bee keeping, cane and bamboo craft among others.

Jorhat district itself boasts of at least 7000 SHGs.

Interestingly, there are quite a few number of high school students who are members of Bhogdoi and they have experienced ‘earn while you learn’. By Apem (ANI)

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AIDS treatment still eludes Chinese children

April 20, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese children with AIDS, especially from rural families, are going without treatment because their families are too poor to afford it, despite a government policy of free treatment, an activist group said on Monday.

Some families don’t even know AIDS treatment programs exist, it said.

“China has made great progress in the fight against AIDS, but far too many children are getting the wrong AIDS treatment,” said Sara Davis, executive director of Asia Catalyst, which issued the report.

As many as 10,000 Chinese children may be HIV-positive, most because of botched blood transfusions or transmission from their mothers. They are concentrated in central Henan province, where the blood supply was contaminated in the 1990s, or in Yunnan province in the southwest, a hub for drug trafficking.

In 2005, 9,000 cases of children contracting HIV from their mothers were reported. Many children with AIDS die before the age of five, often undiagnosed.

Some live too far from hospitals and others have been turned away from hospitals and schools that fear contagion from AIDS patients.

China guarantees free drug treatment for AIDS, but many poor families cannot afford the associated fees or treatment for other diseases which may strike the weakened children.

The government provides generic versions of four drugs for front-line treatment, but many patients have developed resistance.

Asia Catalyst called for the Chinese government to “fill in the gaps” by extending coverage for additional medical costs, and providing cheaper second-line drugs.

(Reporting by Lucy Hornby; Editing by Nick Macfie)

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