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Hard-line Iran prez bats for co-ed colleges

July 11, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

TEHRAN: Iran’s political power struggles have brought no shortage of cutthroat intrigue with careers ruined, government officials arrested and even accusations of black magic. And now this — firebrand president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the voice of liberal dissent.

That’s the latest twist in the showdown between Ahmadinejad and Iran’s ruling clerics. Ahmadinejad — reviled by the opposition as a figurehead of hard-line rule — is now temporarily in the reformists’ corner by opposing plans to segregate male and
female students at Iranian universities. “It is necessary to swiftly prevent these backward, shallow-minded actions,” Ahmadinejad wrote in an order addressed to members of his Cabinet.

It also nudged the political dramas further into territory that’s surprising even by Iran’s roughneck standards, where potshots and bitter quarrels are common fare in parliament and elsewhere. This time, the battle is Ahmadinejad versus the theocracy that once backed him.

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Deployment of women constables cheers farmers in Punjab’s border villages

September 12, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Rorawala (India-Pakistan Border), Sep.11 (ANI): As women constables of the Border Security Force (BSF) were deployed at the India-Pakistan International Border on Friday, a wave of cheer overwhelmed the villagers here.

Male farmers expressed their delight over the development, saying the presence of women security personnel would encourage their womenfolk to join them in the fields near the border.

The fencing of the 553-kilometer-long border since the 1990s; has created a feeling of reluctance among rural women to cross the border gates to work in fields or to deliver meals.

Most of them were hesitant in undergoing a frisking of their bodies, a security provision to check against the smuggling of unwanted material from across the border.

In such conditions, farmers were compelled to hire outside help on daily wages.

Hailing the step, farmers in the border area said their financial burden would be reduced with their women stepping in to assist them.

They also said that the deployment of women constables would enable them to access cheap labour.

Raj, a woman labourer, said: “I am very happy since it was difficult to get work in the village. We can now go to the fields beyond the fencing and earn much for our families.”

Balwinder Kaur of Rorawala village said that her family owned about ten acres of land beyond the fencing and some times it was difficult to cultivate it due to the shortage of labourers.

Now, with the presence of female security personnel, she said that she and other females of the family were ready to help in the cultivation process beyond the fenced wiring.

Joginder Singh, a farmer, said that he was now looking forward to the fresh meals brought to him by the womenfolk of his family.

Mohammad Aquil, DIG (Border Range) BSF, said the deployment of the lady BSF constables would be done in the state of Punjab within two months.

A senior BSF official said about 178 girls would be posted at the international border dividing India and Pakistan. At a later stage, 60 of these women constables would be deployed along the India-Bangladesh border

These women are aged between 19-25 and are fully trained in the use of weapons, patrolling and other combat tasks, they will be assigned non-combat duties along the fenced border.

Gurbir Kaur, a woman constable, said that the (soldiers)’ uniform always fascinated her. She said that being in uniform was a dream come true.

Raman Preet Kaur, another lady constable, said that apart from frisking, she was also trained to handle a security-related crisis at the border.

These women passed out of the BSF academy in Kharkan near the town of Hoshiarpur on July 25 this year. By Ravinder Singh Robin (ANI)

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New ‘Taliban killer’ sights for British troopers on Afghanistan frontier

September 10, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Sep 9(ANI): After reports of British soldiers facing weapons’ shortage in the Afghanistan frontier, a range of new thermal weapons’ sights has been launched to enable soldiers to dominate the battlefield in Afghanistan.

According to reports, the British Ministry of Defence will buy almost 11,000 new sights for 150 million pounds, allowing the Army to equip 95 infantry companies of more than 100 men.

As part of the Ministry of Defence’s Future Integrated Soldier Technology (Fist) programme troops have been issued with a small glass prism-like sight, which project a red laser dot. It would help a soldier to quickly align the red dot on an enemy who is very close and hit him with guaranteed accuracy.

“This means the infantryman can pick up the enemy coming in. At night the enemy’s field craft has to be pretty adept because he has to remain in dead ground all the way up to your position and that is hard yards. This will allow us to dominate the night,” The Telegraph quoted Col Bill Pointing, a former battalion commander in charge of the project, as saying.

“This will allow the infantry to operate quicker, better, at longer range, at night and in difficult weather conditions,” he added.

It will provide improved protection, day and night surveillance and target acquisition, and assistance with navigation, command and control and battle preparation.

The new thermal weapons’ sights would also allow soldiers to conduct surveillance and engage targets in all weather and light levels, including zero light where normal night sights would be rendered ineffective.

“There is a considerable improvement in terms of us infantry engaging the Taliban at very close quarters in the villages of Afghanistan, especially at night time. It will help us to put very effective fire into them,” said Cpl Ciaran Hanna of the Irish Guards. (ANI)

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High-performance, low-cost green LEDs to brighten up the future

September 6, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, September 6 (ANI): A scientist is aiming to develop a high-performance, low-cost green LED (Light-emitting diode).

According to Christian Wetzel, professor of physics and the Wellfleet Professor of Future Chips at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), “Going green means different things to different people. For companies, going green means making a profit by selling equipment and services that allow one’s customers to be more efficient and reduce costs.”

“I’m doing both of those, but I’m also trying to make an LED that literally shines green light,” he said.

First discovered in the 1920s, LEDs are semiconductors that convert electricity into light.

When switched on, swarms of electrons pass through the semiconductor material and fall from an area with surplus electrons into an area with a shortage of electrons.

As they fall, the electrons jump to a lower orbital and release small amounts of energy. This energy is realized as photons – the most basic unit of light.

Unlike conventional light bulbs, LEDs produce almost no heat.

The color of light produced by LEDs depends on the type of semiconductor material it contains.

“We have high-performance red LEDs, we have high-performance blue LEDs, and if we paired them with a high-performance green LED we would be able to produce every color visible to the human eye – including true white,” said Wetzel.

“Every computer monitor and television produces its picture by using red, blue, and green. That means developing a high-performance green LED would likely lead to a new generation of high-performance, energy-efficient display devices,” he added.

“The problem, however, is that green LEDs are much more difficult to create than I, or anyone else, imagined,” he explained.

Simple preliminary attempts to create green LEDs, by merely adding more indium (In) to the gallium nitride (GaN) materials that composed blue LEDs, were unsuccessful.

The resulting green LEDs just weren’t strong or bright enough to stand toe-to-toe with red or blue.

Wetzel and his research group have been working to tweak precisely how to add more indium, and how to grow the structure more carefully into a device, with the goal of boosting the strength and light output of green LEDs.

“They’re endeavoring, he said, to close the green gap,” said Wetzel.

Once they overcome the challenge of developing efficient green LEDs, Wetzel envisions LED technology will quickly evolve from its current applications in signs and small displays and grow into a universally adopted, globally used replacement for traditional light bulbs and compact fluorescence tubes. (ANI)

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Punjab authorities launch drive to uproot “Congress Grass”

September 6, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Nag Khurd (Amritsar), Sep.5 (ANI): Farmers in Punjab are confronted with an unusual problem these days. A weed described as “Congress Grass” has covered all soil-bunds in the fields here and the administration is taking up measures to educate farmers about how to obviate it.

The “Congress Grass” is said to be a major biological pollutant of the environment. It is described as one of the seven most destructive weeds of the world.

Locally known as ‘Gajar Buti’, the Congress Grass has become an ecological nuisance especially on sides of link roads and other waste lands. It causes Asthma, Allergy and skin diseases to humans and also the animals.

It becomes a host for dangerous insects. Nowadays the vast growth of this weed can also be seen on roadsides and other wastelands.

Observing its harmful effects on the fields, the agriculture department has decided to pull out the “Congress grass” from its roots.

It is a mechanical technique in which fodder cutter machines attached to tractors are to be used to clear the area covered up by Congress Grass.

The novel technique of mechanical removal of this weed from the sides of link roads and wastelands in Amritsar district was started on Thursday.

Authorities are spreading public awareness among farmers through demonstrations about the new technique with the help of fodder cutting machine by eradicating Congress Grass.

With the help of the machines, the farmers are able to get rid of this menace of “Congress Grass” more effectively and rapidly.

The idea to use fodder cutting machine for this purpose has been conceived by Deputy Commissioner, Amritsar, Kahn Singh Pannu.

On Thursday, Pannu demonstrated to farmers by driving a tractor in Nag Khurd village in Majitha area about how to pull out the “Congress Grass”.

Talking to ANI Pannu said, this is first time in Punjab that they are cutting the hazardous weed “Congress Grass” with fodder cutter machines and it is giving god results.

According to Pannu, Congress Grass is not only harmful to the crop but also causes severe skin problems like rashes and itching and some time cause respiratory diseases.

“Through demonstration, we are creating awareness and educating the farmers to get rid of this unwanted weed by applying new methods,” Pannu said.

With the help of department of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Rural Development, about 20 Fodder Cutter Machines in the district will be employed for the removal of the Congress Grass from the berms and the waste lands in the district.

The farmers, who own these machines, will operate them to remove the weed and they will be paid for their services by the Panchayats (village councils).

“Since these day we have ample time so we would pull out the Congress Grass by applying the new method,” said Satnam Singh, a farmer, while adding that it is more convenient as there has been always a shortage of labour in Punjab.

“Apart from the damage to crop through reduced yields, Congress Grass is weakening the strength of the land,” said Inder Preet Singh, another farmer.

Appreciating the efforts being made by administrative authorities, Singh said he feels that agriculture department should organize more camps so that the more farmers could benefit by eradicating the Congress Grass from their field. By Ravinder Singh Robin(ANI)

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Jharkhand farmers sow new variety of paddy

September 5, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Ranchi, Sep 5 (ANI): Scanty rainfalls and acute shortage of water have forced the farmers to sow new varieties of paddy, which consume less water in Jharkhand.

The three varieties are called ‘Karaini’, ‘Sonpia’ and ‘Seeta saal’, which mature in just 75-90 days and require little water support.

Besides, these varieties are also known for better yield of straw, which is useful for the cattle.

“There are three varieties of paddy which need less water and can be sowed by the farmers. It is very popular among the village farmers. They also possess a lot of medicinal qualities these are known as ‘Karaini’, ‘Sonpia’ and ‘Seeta saal’. This gets ready in just 75-90 days. It gives high yield in less water,” said Yogesh Oraon, a farmer.

The farmers use alternate methods like wells and water pump to irrigate their fields. Furthermore, the scarcity of fodder at present and in the coming season ahead is a cause of concern for the farmers.

“Due to shortage of water we are forced to sow this variety of paddy. Even a five per cent food out of the yield will be enough for our animals and us. We can manage without food for some days but how will our animals cope up with this situation, so we had to resort to this solution,” said Soyab Khan, a farmer.

Some good rain in the late season has brought some hope for the farmers as they are already too late by two months.

Timely monsoon is vital to the health of India’s trillion-dollar economy as it determines farm outputs and subsequent rural demand for a range of products. (ANI)

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Potable water shortage hits villagers in Kashmir

September 4, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Kupwara (J-K), Sep 4 (ANI): Facing acute shortage of potable water, the villagers are forced to drink polluted water in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir.

A prolonged drought-like situation has further added woes to the villagers.

Everyday, women cover long distances to fetch water from village streams and lakes, which are not fit for drinking. But since taps in their houses have run dry, they are forced to take the filthy water from lake.

The villagers had even held demonstrations in the past, highlighting their plight to the government, but to no avail.

“We have all kinds of difficulties. Despite our protest, the government has not made any arrangements. They take out funds but do nothing. We are suffering due to shortage of water,” said Ashiq Hussain Bhat, a resident.

Residents said they are forced to take the filthy water from the nearby lakes as taps have run dry.The water we take from this lake is very dirty and full of sand. But we are forced to take the dirty water from here as taps have run dry,” said Rubeena, another resident.

Accepting that there is shortage of water due to long spell of dryness, concerned officials said that they have initiated steps to end the water shortage in the district.

“To overcome this difficulty, the department has already taken up and has got a new scheme approved under the Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programme (ARWSP) phase new. Under the scheme, we will lift the water from Phurunala and store it in a reservoir in Tuthigund, which will solve all their problems,” said Mukhtar Ahmad Dar, assistant executive engineer, Public Health Engineering (PHE), Kupwara.

Total rainfall in the country since the beginning of June was 19 percent below average, pulled down by the driest June in 83 years, data from the India Meteorological Department showed.

India’s monsoon will remain weak according to the latest Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) index, which gauges the eastward progress of tropical rain. (ANI)

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Marxist-Leninst activists stage protest against spiralling prices in West Bengal

September 3, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Kolkata, Sep 3 (ANI): Members of the West Bengal state unit of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)-Liberation, staged a mass protest against the risen prices of essential commodities here.

Over 500 protestors took out a procession holding banners and raising slogans against the State government.

They alleged that the Communist state government has created artificial shortage of essential commodities at the behest of hoarders and black-marketing traders.

“The callous government of West Bengal has failed to reduce the prices of essential commodities and failure to supply essential commodities to the PDS (Public Distribution System). They are supporting and patronising hoarders so that the artificial crisis increases,” said Partha Ghosh, Secretary, West Bengal State unit of Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)-Liberation.

The Kolkata Police arrested some of the party supporters when they tried to violate the prohibitory orders in force.

The soaring prices of food grains, sugar and other items of daily needs because of weak monsoon and drought like situation, have created an explosive situation in India because of weak monsoon and drought like situation. (ANI)

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Beefed-up diets of Asia’s middle class may lead to chronic food shortages

August 30, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, August 30 (ANI): Scientists have said that the beefed-up diets of Asia’s expanding middle class could lead to chronic food shortages for the water-stressed region.

According to a report in National Geographic News, the threat was highlighted in a study by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), which estimate that Asian demand for food and livestock fodder will double in 40 years.
Asia’s growing economy and appetite for meat will require a radical overhaul of farmland irrigation to feed a population expected to swell to 1.4 billion by 2050, scientists warned at Stockholm’s World Water Week recently.
At current crop yields, East Asia would need 47 percent more irrigated farmland and to find 70 percent more water, the study found.
South Asia would have to expand its irrigated crop areas by 30 percent and increase water use by 57 percent.
Given existing agriculture pressure on water resources and territory, that’s an impossible scenario, according to the study authors.

Scientists urge modernization of existing large-scale irrigation systems, most of which were installed in the 1970s and 1980s.
It’s estimated that India, the world’s largest consumer of underground water, has 19 million unregulated groundwater pumps.
Groundwater in northern India is receding by as much as a foot (0.3 meter) a year due to rampant water extraction, most of it for crop irrigation, according to a study.
More than 109 cubic kilometres of groundwater were drained from the region between 2002 and 2008, according to the satellite image-based study led by scientists with NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.
“Governments’ inability to regulate this practice is giving rise to scary scenarios of groundwater over-exploitation, which could lead to regional food crises and widespread social unrest,” said Tushaar Shah of IWMI.

As for China, the country’s per capita “water footprint” for food production has almost doubled since 1985, according to Junguo Liu of the Beijing Forestry University.
“A switch from traditional rice and noodles to a meatier diet is behind the change,” Liu said. “Changes in food consumption are the major cause of worsening water scarcity in China,” he added.
Total water requirements for food production in China are predicted to rise by 40 to 50 percent in the next 30 years, he further added.
“Where do you get such a big amount of water? It is a really big question and a big challenge,” he said.
“If other developing countries follow China toward a Western diet, the global water shortage becomes even more serious,” he added. (ANI)

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Bihar flood victims allege government apathy

August 27, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Kevati (Bihar), Aug 27 (ANI): Angry and anguished villagers have blamed government apathy for the flood-related havoc across Bihar.

Thousands of people have been displaced after the Misraulia dam broke in theState’s Darbhanga district inundating several villages in the region.

The water has flooded the National Highway 105 Highway, taking away tracts of road with the flow.

Villages have turned into mini islands and are cut off from the rest of the region. Floods have affected around a million people in eleven districts of the state.

Reportedly, over 100 villages are reeling under floods in Darbhanga district.

The death toll due to floods has risen to 23 in the state, with seven fresh cases being reported on Wednesday.

The villagers alleged the government has turned blind eye to their woes and want the government to provide relief to them.

“The flood water has cut away large tracts of land in Khirma. The administration is turned a blind eye towards us. A boat was provided to the villagers, which was broken and hence it sunk with 25 people onboard. Till now, there has been no help from the government. Further on, there is a bridge, which has also been washed away by the flood water. There is around five to seven feet of water on the road but there is no rescue work being carried on to save the people,” said Janki Ahmed, a flood victim.

Movement is also restricted due to the washing away of roads in the region.

Paramilitary forces have been called in to rescue stranded people, but according to some paramilitary officials, it is impossible to carry out rescue work in inundated villages.

“Our main aim is to rescue people. But villages here are cut off from the rest of the region. We conducted a survey and found that the villagers here did not want to leave their homes, instead, they want the government to provide them with relief material. It is impossible to carry out rescue operation here,” said Manoj Kumar Chwarsla, a paramilitary official.

State Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is conducting an aerial survey of the flood-affected regions to assess the damage.

“I will conduct an aerial survey of the flood affected regions and hold discussions with the officials there. Instructions have already been issued to the officials there as to how to deal with the situation in the flood-affected areas. How people have to be rescued, how to provide relief material to them and all this work is being carried on by the disaster management department,” said Nitish Kumar.

The villagers are forced to remain indoors and are even facing food shortage in some areas.(ANI)

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Dead Sea shrinking by 1 meter every year

August 27, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, August 27 (ANI): Reports indicate that the Dead Sea is still shrinking fast, with water levels continuing to drop at the rate of about 1 meter per year.

Praised far and wide for the reputed healing powers of its minerals and waters, the Dead Sea has been luring visitors for thousands of years.

But these days, tourists see a very different lake from the one that others would have witnessed a few decades ago.

According to a report in National Geographic News, the sea sits in the lowest place on earth, and for years, the water level was 1280 feet below sea level. However, in the last 40 years, it’s dropped more than 80 feet.

Today, the Dead Sea continues to drop at the rate of about 1 meter per year.

This dramatic shortage is particularly evident at Israel’s Ein Gedi Spa, on the southern shores of the Dead Sea.

“The beach was here, and now (it’s) far away. You can see it’s more than one kilometre from here. In 30 years, the beach (will have) disappeared,” said Alon Shachal, Ein Gedi Spa Manager.

The need to change the status quo and find a solution to the Dead Sea’s alarming shrinking has been a concern for years for ‘Friends of the Earth Middle East’, a non-governmental organization that brings together Palestinian, Israeli and Jordanian environmentalists.

“After the ’60′s, we started to see a dramatic decrease in the surface area of the Dead Sea. And according to the different studies, in 50 years from now, at the same rate, which is 1 meter per year of drop in the surface level of the Dead Sea, means that this sea will not be the same. It will be more of a very small lake; not the same area that we have today,” said Iyad Aburdeieneh, Project Coordinator, Friends of the Earth Middle East Bethlehem.

According to Gidon Bromberg, from Friends of the Earth Middle East Tel Aviv, “The Dead Sea has had its taps closed from both ends. From the North, in fact here in front of us is where the Jordan River should be flowing to the Dead Sea, but the Jordan River basically doesn’t flow anymore.”

“Ninety-five per cent of its waters have been diverted by Israel, by Syria, by Jordan, so that what’s left in the Jordan River – a river holy to half of humanity – is little more than agriculture runoff, fish farm waste and, mostly, untreated sewage waters,” he said. (ANI)

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Flood-hit UP villagers forced to fend for themselves

August 26, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Pipraghat (UP), Aug 26 (ANI): Pipraghat villagers are caught in double trouble. Hit by flood, they have fallen victim to the government’s complacency.

The village is among the many hit by the rising waters of Narayani River in Kushinagar district. Thousands of people have been rendered homeless.

The villagers of Pipraghat complained that they have not received any government help so far.

“This is Pipraghat village in Kushinagar district, which is very backward. Twenty-five villages have been affected by floods and 20,000 people are suffering from it.

But the government has not made any arrangement. It has only been providing us with a boat and 2 litres of kerosene oil.” said Prabhunath Yadav, a resident.

People say they are left with very little food and are living on shells.

“The water has not receded. We are fetching shells and eating them and there is also no help from the government,” said Batulia Devi, a villager.

The villagers are facing a severe shortage of drinking water, apart from kerosene oil to cook their food.

The government officials say kerosene oil is on its way to reach people.

“Twelve thousand litres of oil has been ordered which will be distributed to people. The revenue administrative officer will make a list of people and those in the list will get two litres of oil,” said Mahendra Shukla, district supply officer.

Narayani River has swollen due to rains in Nepal, where it originates.

The river flows through Champaran district in Bihar to Maharajgunj and down Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh.

Heavy downpour after a delayed monsoon has wreaked havoc in many districts of Uttar Pradesh which skirt the India-Nepal border since the waters of swollen rivers and reservoirs in Nepal rush southwards into these districts. (ANI)

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Zardari says he discussed Indus Basin Water Treaty issue with Manmohan Singh

August 9, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Islamabad, Aug. 9 (ANI): Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has said that he discussed the issue of the Indus Basin Water Treaty during his first meeting with India Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New York.

Responding to a question about the alleged violation of Indus Basin Water Treaty by India, Zardari said the government was conscious of this very grave issue of water shortage and is taking steps for its conservation.

In 2008, Pakistan’s Indus Commissioner Syed Jamaat Ali Shah had alleged that India was filling the Baglihar Dam in clear violation of the Indus Basin Water Treaty, bringing the inflow in Chenab River down to a historic low of 20,000 cusecs.

According to The Nation, Zardari said that a special assistant to the prime minister on water had been appointed, which reflected the significance the government was attaching to the issue.

He also emphasised on the importance of water conservation and said modern technologies of irrigation should be utilised for conservation of precious water.

On the issue of militancy in Balochistan, Zardari said the government is moving in the right direction to address the problems faced by the people of Balochistan through dialogue and constitutional means.

He admitted that the people of Balochistan had been ignored in the past and the PPP government would like to apologise to them despite the fact that “We were not responsible for the past wrong doings.”

Addressing members of the youth parliament, Zardari said that Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani had raised the issue of foreign interference in Balochistan with his Indian counterpart during their meeting at Sharm El-Sheikh. (ANI)

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Government inefficiency places people in coastal zones at risk from tsunamis

July 11, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, July 11 (ANI): A team of international experts has determined that governments have largely failed to seriously implement integrated management in coastal zones, placing people at risk of disasters such as hurricane Katrina and the Banda Aceh tsunami.

This was the conclusion of 40 international experts from wide ranging disciplines including economics, social sciences and natural sciences who met for an intensive, 5 day workshop near Oslo, Norway.

Many Megacities such as Tokyo, New York and London are found in the coastal zone.

According to researchers, coastal protection measures give a sense of false security and require increasingly expensive infrastructure.

The treatment and cure of these coastal syndromes includes renewable energy, recycled water and solid waste, sourcing locally grown foods and attention to social equity issues, especially in education and healthcare.

The researchers said that up to now, governments at all scales, from local to international, have largely failed to seriously implement integrated management in coastal zones.

This has placed people at risk of disasters such as hurricane Katrina and the Banda Aceh tsunami.

The interconnection of coastal processes with upstream management in river catchment has widely been ignored, causing coastal erosion, lack of runoff, nutrient shortage and subsiding deltas.

The pace of change in general is increasing and regionally, the world is already seeing both economic and climate-change refugees.

In parallel, there are climate entrepreneurs eager to exploit Arctic resources.

Climate change is exposing the fragile Arctic coasts and ecosystems as well as their vulnerable inhabitants, who subsist on traditional lifestyles, to increasing risks.

Innovation is needed to solve the widespread problems, if we are to turn the tide of losses.

According to researchers, we must enable governance at all scales from intergovernmental engagement to the individual, personal choices that may counteract the tyranny of “small and short sighted decisions”. (ANI)

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No proposal to privatize Air India and Airport Authority: Patel

July 10, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New Delhi, July 9 (ANI): Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel ruled out disinvestments of Air India (AI) and Airport Authority of India (AAI).

Replying to a question in the Lok Sabha, Patel said there is no such proposal before the government and also said that the government is not considering Initial Public Offer (IPO) at this stage.

For the members demand to roll back the development fee collected by the privatized airports, Patel said the government had constituted Airport Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) entrusted with the responsibility of deciding on the issue.

Members suggested that partners should develop airports from their own funds and once they complete the works, they could charge development fees.

The Delhi and Mumbai airports were charging development fees from passengers against whom the Resources of Aviation Redressal

Association (ROAR) had protested, but there was no protest in this regard from International Air Transport Authority (IATA). ROAR has filed a writ petition in the Delhi High Court on the matter, Patel informed the house.

Patel informed that out of the total cost of around Rs 9,000 crore, about Rs 5,500 crore has already been spent and the AAI had taken up development work on Chennai and Kolkata airports.

Replying to another question, Patel said there was no shortage of pilots in the country and the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Academy (IGRUA) has been modernized to increase its annual capacity from 40 to 100 candidates.

A world-class flying training institute at Gondia in Maharashtra has been set up with capacity to train 110 candidates annually, including 10 for Commercial Helicopter Pilot, Patel informed the house.

Patel said the government was supporting other flying clubs by providing trainer aircraft through Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and Aero-Club of India (ACI).

Patel assured the house that congestion in air traffic in Delhi would be considerably reduced and the taxiing time for aircraft brought down once the new terminal under construction became operational in 2010. (ANI)

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Diarrhoea claims four lives in Uttar Pradesh’s Kushinagar district

July 8, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Kushinagar (Uttar Pradesh), July 8 (ANI): Four infants aged between 18 months and five years have died of diarrhoea in Mushar village in Uttar Pradesh’s Kushinagar District.

“Four boys have died. Half a dozen children suffering from diarrhoea are admitted in the hospital,” said Mahesh, father of a diarrhoea-affected child.

The village does not have provision for clean and safe drinking water.

People draw water from wells and hand pumps for drinking as well as other needs while one is uncertain as for the quality of the water.

As if to add more woes to the poor and unhygienic living conditions, the rising temperature has further hastened the outbreak of contagious diseases.

About six children have been admitted in the primary health centre at Kasaya where they are being administered medicines.

However, the villagers have complained that the hospital, bereft of most of the facilities, is not providing their children with medicines.

Munni Lal, whose child has been admitted to the hospital, alleged that doctors are apathetic to the plight of the children and the villagers.

“Four kids have died because of diarrhoea. The doctors at the hospital are not listening to us. They tell us first to get medicines and then they will give treatment to our children,” said Lal.

Almost all the villagers are poor, solely relying on government hospitals or dispensaries and they cannot afford to buy medicines from elsewhere.

The villagers also noted that even though the district administration has been instructed to hold regular health camps in the villages, they are not getting any medical help.

Diarrhoea is a disease caused by stale and rotten food and polluted water. It escalates during the summer season since shortage of potable water forces many to rely on water from contaminated sources. (ANI)

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Acute water crisis in Uttarakhand

July 8, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Haldwani (Uttarakhand)/Chhatarpur (Madhya Pradesh), July 7 (ANI): Residents in Haldwani in Uttarakhand are facing acute water shortage.

Streams are on verge of drying up and water levels in the dams have been depleted severely.

There is limited supply of water in various parts of Haldwani and people have to wait for long hours in queues to fetch water from water tankers being provided by the civic authorities.

“We get only half-an-hour of water supply here. We have to get water from far off places. We face great difficulty,” said Ansuiya, a resident.

Officials blame the small size of the distribution system and absence of an overhead tanker in the city behind for the water crisis.

“Due to small size of the distribution system and because of absence of an overhead tank in the city, there is difficulty at the tail points of the city,” said Prem Singh, executive engineer, Water Supply Department. (ANI)

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Gujarat offers special prayers for rain

July 6, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Ahmedabad, July 6 (ANI): Seeking an end to the continuing dry spell, Hindu priests on Sunday offered special prayers and fire ritual to appease the rain God in Ahmedabad.

Hindu seers performed ‘Parjanya Yagya,’ a special fire ritual for rain, as Gujarat faces an acute water shortage due to an uncertain monsoon.

In this special ritual, priests offer eight herbal and holy ingredients to the holy fire.”The smoke which erupted from this fire ritual goes up into the atmosphere and touches the clouds which cause rain…and the rainfall in turn benefits humans and other species on the earth at large,” said Sameer Shastri, a priest.

Rainfall during June 1 to July 1 was 92.2 mm, 46 percent below normal.

The weather office had said that total rainfall for the crucial June-September monsoon would be only 93 percent of the long-term average, coming in below normal for the first time in four years. (ANI)

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Relief work begins in flood-affected Majuli in Assam

July 6, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Majuli (Assam), July 6 (ANI): Authorities have begun relief work in Majuli island in Assam, where flood has rendered thousands of people homeless. he monsoon causes the mighty Brahmaputra River to bring Majuli miseries every year.

This year too, the Brahmaputra breached a vital embankment along Majuli and displaced thousands of villagers in the upper part of the island.

Authorities have set up around six to seven makeshift camps.

“About 40 villages with a population of around 41,000 have been affected by the current flood. Everyone knows Majuli is prone to flood. As per relief manual village panchayat are completely affected while some are partially affected. We have started distributing relief materials,” said, Deepak Kumar Handique, sub-divisional officer, Majuli.

Due to poor connectivity, the administration is finding it difficult to reach out relief material to the displaced people.

Food, water and fodder are some of the major problems faced by the villagers in the island. All offices, schools and other establishments have been inundated with the floodwater.

“Already four days have passed by since the flood water washed away our village and the main road that connects us to the town. We haven’t received any relief material either from government side or NGOs. Around 50-60 persons are taking shelter in this makeshift camp and we are facing acute shortage of food, drinking water and medicine,” said Moina Saikia, a resident.

A red alert has been sounded in the areas of Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, and Jorhat districts where the Brahmaputra River is flowing above the danger level.

Nearly one lakh hectre of crop has been submerged, and more than seventy thousand people have been left homeless due to the heavy rains in the catchments areas of the Brahmaputra from the last one week.

According to sources, the flood situation will remain same for next few days, as it is still raining heavily on the catchment areas of Brahmaputra and its tributaries. (ANI)

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Delay in monsoon leaves water reservoirs in Karnataka dry

July 5, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Various in Karnataka, July 5 (ANI): Water crisis looms large over Karnataka, as delayed arrival of monsoon has led to drying up of water levels in 81 crucial reservoirs in the state.

A data recently released by the State Government showed water levels in all the state reservoirs at just 44 per cent of water levels at this time last year, and at 65 per cent of the average of the last 10 years.

Krishna Raja Sagar reservoir has almost no water. Tungabhadra dam is receiving only 732 cusecs of water, compared to 30,618 cusecs last year.

Rivers all over India are running dry. Water levels in the Ganges, Indus, Narmada, Sabarmati, Godavari and rivers of the Kutch were all at 10 per cent or less of their full capacity.

The delayed monsoon has affected the area under the kharif crop. It is down by about seven lakh hectares from the 25.20-lakh hectares sown at this time last year.

Farmers said that due to shortage of water their crops are dying, thus threatening their livelihood.

“There is no water in any of the dams, ponds and canals. There is no water for animals also. I don’t know why the rain god is not pleased with us,” said Kempamma, a farmer.

Some have even tilled their lands for the next crop hoping for sudden downpour of monsoon showers.

“Generally, it used to rain during the month of June, but now it’s already July and still there is no rain. Be it Kanva, Tungabhadra or Krishna Raja Sagar, there is no water in any of the dams.

We have even prepared the land for the next crop, but due to shortage of rain water, we are worried about future,” said Rajanna, another farmer.

State Home Minister VS Acharya, however, feels that the dry spell will be followed by rains.

“For sowing activity, there is no problem. Rains are coming to that extent. For further development and requirements, rains will come. Normally when rains have been there in May, June will be slightly dry, so that is the case. It is a dry spell,” said Acharya.

Earlier, the Meteorological Department had predicted of heavy downpour of rainfall in the state. (ANI)

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