mrityunjaybose

GANDHIJI'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY STILL POPULAR

2010-01-28T07:44:00.000-08:00

Gandhi's autobiography again in stalls
MRITYUNJAY BOSE

Mumbai: Mahatma Gandhi's 'The Story of My Experiments with Truth' – is by all means a bestseller – with more than 43 lakh copies being sold so far – and it still continues to attract people. More and more people are purchasing this book – which is available in a dozen languages – Indian and foreign.

“In the present context of increasing violence, terrorism and crime, the autobiography and other books of Mahatma Gandhi are inspiring many people all over the world. Gandhiji has left indelible footprints on the sand of time. Even after 62 years of his departure from the world, his thoughts and deeds have not waned,” says veteran Gandhian, TRK Somaiya of Gandhi Book Centre and Mumbai Sarvodaya Mandal.

To commemorate Gandhiji's 62nd death anniversary, 300 books on and by Gandhi, Vinoba and Sarvodaya will be displayed and sold at 50% discount by Mumbai Sarvodaya Mandal and Gandhi Book Centre with the financial assistance of ‘Babulnath Mandir Charities’ from January 25-30 at an especially erected Mandap at Hutatma Chowk and at Gandhi Book Centre at Nana Chowk here.

"The message in the autobiography is unique," he said pointing out that several hundred copies are sold during the annual exhibition itself.

The 'My Experiments with Truth' – as the book is also known is originally published by Ahmedabad-based Navajivan Trust is available at Rs 30 and 'The Selected Works of Mahatma Gandhi' at Rs 75.

The autobiography is available in English, Hindi, Urdu, Gujarati, Bengali, Marathi, Malayalam, Kannada, Telegu, Asamese, Tamil and Oriya. Besides English, the other foreign languages in which it has been published are French, German, Spanish, Italian, Korean and Japanese.

Although the book did not have a great demand in the initial years of its publication the demand went up in 1984 after the release of Sir Richard Attenborough's film, Gandhi, in which Ben Kingsley essayed the role of the Mahatma, the Apostle of Peace.

Somaiya started selling the copies of the book outside cinema houses those days. When the demand for the book started going up, he set up the Gandhi Book Centre. Today the centre has nearly 200 titles on Gandhiji in different languages. There are 350 translated books.

Shirish Inamdar gets President

2010-01-28T07:43:00.000-08:00

Shirish Inamdar gets President's medal
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
bureaus@sakaaltimes.com
Mumbai: A veteran of intelligence gathering, assessment and training in Maharashtra Police, Shirish Inamdar – who has an unblemished service record of 32 years, has been conferred with President's Police Medal for Distinguished Service. Inamdar is currently Additional Deputy Commissioner (Political) in the State Intelligence Department (SID).

Prior to this assignment, he was Principal of Special Branch Training Institute and has trained hundreds of intelligence officers including the first batch of the intelligence cadre. He has won more than 200 rewards for the good work done by him. On August 15, 2000, he was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal by the President of India and subsequently the Director General's Insignia for meritorious service.

He joined the police as a Sub-Inspector in 1973 and he was ranked third in the batch of 165 cadets in the training course. He excelled himself in traffic, planning, management, coordination and public education. Since July 1986, he worked in CID (Intelligence) as Senior Intelligence Officer till January 1990. Here also he displayed skills in analysing intelligence.

He also headed the Social Service Branch and led from the front. During the stint in SSB, he organised various workshops, seminars and sensitization programme for police officers on various social issues like domestic violence against women, atrocities on women, elder abuse, intellectual property rights, piracy and so on. He too sustained action against obscenity, unconventional gambling, audio, video and software piracy. During his career, he has solved several cases of murders, robberies, dacoities and so on. Wherever he served, he created a good image of the police.
's medal

ARCTIC RESEARCH

2009-10-21T20:18:00.000-07:00

January 8, 2009

NEW SCIENTIFIC FRONTIERS

Fourth exploration planned to Arctic

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Mumbai: A new exploration to the Arctic is being planned and the Government of India has invited scientific proposals on varied scientific topics like space weather and air quality research and aerosol studies to be conducted there.

So far India has sent 28 research missions to Antarctica since 1981 – and as far as the research in Arctic is concerned this would be the fourth mission.

The National Centre of Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR), an autonomous R & D institution under the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) has invited proposals. "We are now planning the fourth exploration mission, and it is a continuation of the programme that commenced nearly two years ago," a researcher of Goa-based NCAOR told Sakaal Times on Thursday.

The proposals have been invited from national scientific organisations/institutions, research laboratories and universities with a sustained interest in polar research for funded access to the Ny-Alesund Research Infrastructure in Svalbard, Norway. The research base is known as Himadri.

The research are planned in wide areas like – biogeochemical cycling of major elements in aquatic environment, space weather, air quality research and aerosol studies, community ecology of pelagic system, palaeoclimatological studies in Arctic region, genetic variability of flora and fauna with specific reference to cold adaptations.

SAVE THE SPARROWS

2009-10-21T20:15:00.001-07:00

Save Sparrows: They Are The Future

The number of sparrows is dwindling. And that too very fast. Though the issue may not strike us in one go, the decline in the number of sparrows is really a matter of concern. But one thing that is for sure is that as fellow citizens we can do out bit to save this bird. For Mumbai, our own city, the issue is more important.

"House sparrows (Passer domesticus) are the indicator of the environment and they are facing a serious threat. We need to generate funds for extensive research," says Dilawar Mohammed, adding that he would be visiting several places across the country to generate more data on sparrows and their decline.

Dilawar has been associated with the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and have recently launched a website – www.natureforever.org – to save sparrows.

He said that the situation is "serious" as house sparrows are indicators of the environment and the decline shows that. Many reasons have been attributed to the decline of sparrows – like increasing use of pesticides, lack of insect food, lack of nesting places and electro-magnetic waves from towers.

Dilawar has also posted details on net ( http://dilawarmohammed.googlepages.com) - where many interesting facts about sparrows could be accessed.

Dilawar, who is a Project Manager for IBA-IUCN, pointed out: "When we were young we use to see women from the houses use to clean the grains, wheat rice and so on. At the same time, when they were sitting, sparrows use to come for the leftovers. But today we get everything packed – from retail shops and malls." He said that that the House Sparrows are declining gives signal that "there is something wrong in the environment".

"House Sparrows may not be critically endangered now, but in future it may happen. What happened to the vultures. In just 10 years they are facing extinction," Dilawar points out.

However, there is some good news. “The centre has sanctioned a three-year project to investigate the causes leading to the decline of the house sparrow in urban areas of India,” an excited Dilawar said.

Among the TIME's Heroes of Environment-2008, the Nashik-based naturalist pointed out that the decline in the house sparrow population in the United Kingdom and Western Europe has been widely recognized and taken very seriously.

The common house sparrows are nature’s bio-indicators and enjoy a
historical relationship with humans and have followed his colonization of
earth.

Nest boxes and feeders

Dilawar has now has started making next boxes and feeders in his hometown and is supplying to the purchasers on a no profit-no loss basis. "It is a simple device," he said, and pointed out that there is an urgent need for funds for undertaking study of sparrows, whom he refers to as "friends of the mankind".

Talking about nestboxes, he said, bird species can benefit greatly from nest boxes. Of the smaller species, it is normally birds that nest in holes or crevices that will use nest boxes to breed in. The most common being the house sparrow .

However other smaller birds will happily use an open fronted nest box to breed in. These include, robin, maynas, magpie robin. Some of these are quite common garden birds and providing they are placed correctly, nest boxes can provide a wonderful opportunity to witness first hand the beauty of nature.

There are two main types of nest boxes, the conventional nest box made from straight planks of timber in a box shape with a circular entrance hole and the natural nest box made from a hollowed out tree trunk. The difference being that the natural nest box looks very professional and natural although it is harder to make. Some birds like the house martin and swallow nest in an artificial cup shaped nest fixed under the eaves.

Nest boxes should only be placed where they cannot be accessed by predators especially cats. Cats seem to hone in on the frequent activity around the nest box at breeding times especially as the chicks get older when their calls become audible. A box which can be readily viewed from the house will therefore provide you pleasure and the birds increased safety.

Some birds like the house sparrows can't resist using nest boxes. Whether a bird will choose a nest box will of course depend on the species, that the size and siting of the box is correct, that it is in a safe location and there is an adequate source of food and water in the garden.

Birds become very sensitive during the breeding season and you should resist any curiosity to look in the box at the chicks, since disturbance may cause the adult birds to abandon the nest. This is a good reason to build your nest box so you can't look inside.

After fledging the nest box should be thoroughly cleaned out since it will be teeming with tiny parasites - boiling water will normally do the trick.

Another reason to put up a nest box is that after breeding takes place, they are often used during the night as a place of shelter and warmth.

Ban catapults

With the decline in several species of birds, conservationists and bird lovers have called for a ban on catapults - and Dilawar, who is a leading researcher on house sparrows, has decided to launch a nationwide campaign.

"We all love birds and mother nature but now as we all know it is under attack from all quarters. For the past one year I have trying to convince people to work on a ban on the use of catapults. I have surveyed the wholesale markets of Mumbai where hundreds of thousands of catapults and the rubber pipe used in it is sold," Dilawar said.

Give them water

With the population of house sparrows declining for multiple reasons, India’s leading expert on sparrows Dilawar requested people to provide water to them in a little way.

Dilawar has launched a website – www.natureforever.org – and has also recently had launched an SMS campaign requesting people to help the birds in general and sparrows in particular. He requested people to provide water to them by keeping it in containers in windows and terraces.

Dilawar’s simple SMS reads – “many birds die in summer without water, try 2 save them, please put water pots 4 thirsty birds in balcony n windows and gardens” .

People have started doing it. The response has been tremendous….. with a little but we could save so many birds.

Did you know ?

* The most widespread commonly seen wild bird in the world is probably the house sparrow (Passer domesticus), which has been transported all over the world by European settlers and can now be found on 2/3 of the land masses of the world including New Zealand, Australia, North America, India and Europe.

* House sparrows reportedly lived and bred in the Frickley Colliery Yorkshire, England coalmine shaft 640 m (2100 feet) below ground level, where two, and later three birds were fed by the miners and lived for three years. (In November 1977, a pair nested in the mine and raised three, which did not survive).

* The house sparrow can swim when it needs to for survival. They have even been observed swimming underwater when threatened.

* While the longevity record for a house sparrow is over 13 years, the survival rate of the bird while young is less than 25 per cent. Over 40 per cent of all adult house sparrows die every year.

2009-07-25T04:32:00.000-07:00

encounter specialists

2008-11-18T07:00:00.002-08:00

September 3, 2008

ENCOUNTER COPS

From: MRITYUNJAY BOSE

Last Sunday when at the stroke of 1 am, when Pradeep Sharma heard the knock at the door of his flat, he had no idea what was coming. When he opened the door, he was shocked – he found that he has been dismissed from the Mumbai Police, which he served for more than 25 years. The reason – links with underworld.

Like Sharma – several of his trigger-happy colleagues and contemporaries are booked in some or the other cases or totally sidelines within the force barring a few. During their heydays, these "encounter specialists" together killed more than 700 criminals of different gangs - now-a-days, they just kill time.

They were the poster-boys of Mumbai Police and performed the role of "Dirty Harry", came to be eulogized as "encounter specialists" or "encounter cops" and earned sobriquets like "super cops" – but today if one rewinds to the period of late nineties and compare with the present – the larger-than-life cops are history. Also the rivalry among these group of elite officers and men had come to the fore.

The journey of these daredevil men from hall-of-fame to hall-of-shame has been interesting and in itself is a good Bollywood plot. But the fact remains – the tribe called "encounter specialists" is more or less extinct.

"During my career I have killed 112 criminals, this is the reward that I got," says Sharma, expressing his anguish over being summarily dismissed under Article 311 of the Constitution. In this case Sharma's own intelligence network failed as he never new what was coming – as a matter of fact the file on his dismissal moved from the desk of a dozen IPS officers before Mumbai police chief Hasan Gafoor finally moved it to Director General of Police A N Roy, who inked his dismissal from the force.

Cut to late nineties, these cops used to flaunt costliest cell phones, deadly Smith and Wessons or Colts besides SLRs, and bumped off several criminals and terrorists – in what is known as "encounters" – but later changed to "police operation" and again back as "encounters". Not only in Mumbai or India, international media has portrayed some of these officers. Sharma, who was in a way the king of encounter specialists, was featured in Time magazine.

Like Inspector Sharma – the entire band of encounter specialists with an exception to Vijay Salaskar and Vinayak Savade – others are booked, sacked or sidelined. So as was their early rise and the immediate downfall. Since 2004, the trouble for these officers and men started – when an accused in the Ghatkopar bomb blast, Khwaja Yunus escaped from police custody – later presumed dead in custody – and one after the other found themselves on the other side of law.

During this period, Sub-Inspector Daya Nayak, who was protégé of Sharma, fell out with him - and also emanated reports of rivalry among Sharma and Salaskar, who currently heads the Anti-Extortion Cell of the Crime Branch. In fact, Sharma, Salaskar and Praful Bhosale, who headed a Crime Branch are of the 1983 batch.

Bhosale, the specialist, was arrested in connection with the disappearance of Khwaja Yunus. One of Sharma's juniors Sachin Waze, who had good knowledge of detecting high-tech frauds, also found suspended and arrested in the same case, but later he resigned from police. Their colleague Arun Borude secured anticipatory bail and is currently out of Mumbai.

Inspector Aslam Momin too was sacked by the police for his links with the underworld. Ravindra Angre, another officer, but from Thane found himself involved in an extortion case and arrested. Daya Nayak himself was accused of having assets disproportionate to sources of income. There are reports that Nayak built a school in his native at Karnataka and a Bollywood superstar reportedly inaugurated that a few years ago.

The juniors of these middle-rung officers and their Man Fridays are now scattered – and often avoid media, though during their regime when they cracked the backbone of the underworld from Mumbai – they used to send SMS to journalists of their achievements. Some of the encounter specialists were also closed to Bollywood personalities.

The seniors too also suffered – deputy commissioner of police (detection) Pradip Sawant, who was later sent to the Special Branch, was arrested in the infamous fake stamp paper scandal masterminded by Abdul Karim Telgi. Former police chief R S Sharma, who had served as joint commissioner of police (crime) earlier, too was arrested in the same scandal. Both has been discharged by a Pune special court.
Most of them are decorated with President's Medal or Director General of Police's commendation. They had an excellent intelligence-gathering network and are known for solving complex of crimes in few hours time.
These men combined together has created a dent in all the gangs – be it of Dawood Ibrahim, his brother Anees Ibrahim and Chhota Shakeel on one side or people like Chhota Rajan, Amar Naik or Ashwin Naik or for that matter Arun Gawli. "Definitely they have played a role in crippling the underworld, but they assumed larger than life image and in fact started dictating to senior officers. The friction between them also affected the functioning, but time decides," a senior officer said wishing anonymity. "The snuffed out the bad guys and now they are being snuffed out," he said.

What is to be noted is that these encounter cops in the process of liquidating gangsters also came close to rival gangs – and the killing continued. Sometimes the encounters were also referred to as extra-judicial killings – and there are instances when there were strictures from courts and human rights commissions. "When the department needed them they were used, but now they are sidelined, as their requirement is not that much," a middle-level police officer said. "However, their fate is like that – early rise to fame, enjoying power, commanding strength, but an early fall," points out a senior officer, pointing out that these encounter specialists also started interfering in transfers of senior officials.

SOME FILMS ON GANGWARS AND ENCOUNTER COPS

Satya
Company
Vaastav
Shootout at Lokhandawala
Aan – Men at Work
Aab Tak Chhapan
Encounter: The Killing
Risk
Kagaar

response time

2008-11-18T07:00:00.001-08:00

September 1, 2008From: Mrityunjay Bose
MUMBAI POLICE
Marked improvement in response timeReaches crime spot in seven minutes; inching towards the international standard

Mumbai: In a major achievement for Mumbai police - which is ranked next only to Scotland Yard in crime detection, the city cops have improved the response time to nearly seven minutes - inching towards the international standard of five minutes."The response time is a major factor in policing. In Hindi films we often see the police arriving once everything is over," joint commissioner of police (law and order) K L Prasad said. "We need to reach the scene fast, though in some real cases, it may not happen," he added.Prasad said that as far as the best was concerned - in Mumbai in some cases it is two to three minutes, while the maximum was 12 to 13 minutes. "On an average, the response time that we currently have is six-and-a-half-minutes to seven minutes," he said, pointing out that international standard was nearly five minutes.He said that with an increase in manpower and vehicles, this performance can be further enhanced. "Today every beat has a jeep and a bike with GPS facility and it is linked to the main control room," he said. Within seconds of reporting of an incident, the control room located at the Crawford Market police headquarters - the nearest vehicle can be located and directed to reach the spot. The Mumbai police have over 80 plus police station and several specialised units besides the Crime Branch and have a strength of nearly 40,000 officers and men.

mumbai museum

2008-11-18T06:58:00.001-08:00

September 7, 2008
From: Mrityunjay Bose

Centre approves upgrading of Mumbai museum

MUMBAI: The Centre has given approval to the Rs 12.43 crore financial assistance for the upgradation and modernization of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, earlier known as Prince of Wales Museum.

The Ministry of Culture, Government of India will spent the amount during 2008-10.

The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (formerly Prince of Wales Museum of Western India) situated in a heritage precinct known as the "Crescent Site" is one of the more important Museums of the country and a prime cultural institution of the city of Mumbai. The building is declared as an A grade heritage building by the Heritage Committee of Mumbai and is in itself an attraction for the visitors. The building is situated in an area of about 3 acres covering a built up area
of 12,142.23 sq.m.

The Museum began its modernization program seven years ago to keep pace with the changing needs and trends of the 21st century. This implied upgrading the Museum to international standards.

The history of the museum is rich. For a long time people felt the need for a good Museum in Bombay and finally the Museum was established by public contribution aided by the Government of Bombay Presidency. The Foundation Stone of the Museum was laid by the Prince of Wales on the 11th of November, 1905 and the Museum was named Prince of Wales Museum of Western India.

The architect of the building, George Wittet, was selected after an open competition in 1909. Wittet is known for the Indo Saracenic style of architecture of which this Museum is one of the best examples. The Indo-Saracenic style combines Hindu and Islamic elements while incorporating some elements of Western architecture.

The building was completed in 1914 but the Museum was only opened to the public on
the 10th of January, 1922. Till then it was used by the military as a hospital and for the Children's Welfare Exhibition.

Many things have changed since then, Bombay is now known as Mumbai and the Prince of Wales Museum of Western India has been renamed Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya. The Museum is set in a well laid out garden which retains it's original plan even today. The Museum is a Grade I Heritage Building of the city. It has bagged the 1st prize awarded by the Indian Heritage Society for heritage building maintenance.

The Collection:
The collection of the Museum started almost simultaneously with the foundation of the Museum building in 1905. The Museum acquired a well-known collection of Indian miniatures and other antiquities in 1915. The excavated artifacts from the Buddha stupa of Mirpurkhas were brought to the Museum in 1919. The art collection of Sir Ratan Tata and Sir Dorab Tata were bequeathed to this Museum in 1921 and 1933 respectively. The Tata collection comprises of two major collections: The European and the Far Eastern. Some outstanding Indian antiquities also form part of this magnanimous gift.
The Museum is an autonomous body unaided by the Government, so money was always a constraint. Despite this, the Museum has added several antiquities to its collection, particularly in the period after Independence.

mobile tracker

2008-11-18T06:54:00.000-08:00

September 9, 2008
From: Mrityunjay Bose
MOBILE TRACKER
Your cell phone can be managed remotely!

Mumbai: Those whose mobile phones have been lost or stolen will narrate how much data and telephone numbers they have lost. But now one can overcome this fear - Mumbai-based Micro Technologies (India) Ltd on Tuesday launched Micro Mobile Controller System (MMCS), a software that can remotely manage your cell phone. India is adding somewhere around eight to 10 million mobile connections every month and according to estimates total connections are likely to reach 600 million by 2011. The flip side of such an unprecedented growth in the number of mobile phone users is an equally unprecedented growth in instances of lost and stolen mobile phones. "MCCS above all existing features gives an extraordinary back up facility of contact details to the registered user," says Mukund Gupta, COO, Micro Technologies. The software manages the mobile handset with the help of an add on recipient mobile number. This software is far beyond just the concept of security, in which it not only creates a back up of all contact details even after the loss of mobile handset but the registered user can retrieve, delete the contact details, MMS and SMS with the add on users mobile. It is also clubbed with basic security features of tracking the new SIM card that has been inserted in the lost or stolen mobile phone by the location of the nearest cell tower. "More importantly, one also receives the proof, of the handset's International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number and the number of the new SIM card that has been inserted," points out Milind Londe, head (software implementation and support), Micro Technologies.In fact, Micro Technologies have given a presentation about their product to Cyber Crime Investigation Cell of Mumbai police and the Anti-Terrorist Squad.
The basic features of the MMCS are - one can receive call logs of all calls made by the new SIM card, avoid the misuse of personal data on the handset by deleting all records from the add on card, retrieve all contact details and immediate knowledge of the new SIM card inserted in the stolen/lost cell phone besides the IMEI number, which helps the law enforcement agencies to track down the user. Once the MMCS is installed on to the compatible handset, the user has to provide to add on recipients mobile numbers, which could be a mobile number of any friend/family/colleague. When the registered user's cell phone gets lost, the information can be used using the add on recipients mobile phones.

pune landlill

2008-11-18T06:51:00.000-08:00

September 29, 2008From: Mrityunjay Bose
RESEARCH REPORT - 'Prevent Urali-Devachi from being a toxic

Mumbai/Pune: The solid waste dumped by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) at the landfill at Urali-Devachi village in Pune district threatens to make it a 'toxic bomb' in future - and efforts needed to be initiated to convert waste into fertilizer, according to a new research report. The site is being used since 1983 - more than two decades now and 1,000 to 1,200 tonnes of garbage is disposed at Urali-Devachi everyday. The report published in the latest issue of 'Current Science' reveals the problems of air and groundwater pollution caused due to unscientific disposal of solid waste at Urali-Devachi village.Ragpickers, workers, vehicle drivers, and those residing in the nearby areas of the village are continuously exposed to air pollution. It has been found that leachates originate from solid waste landfill-contaminated groundwater. Well water found in Urali-Devachi village is not safe for drinking, outdoor bathing, propagation of aquatic life, industrial cooling and for irrigation. "If this landfill continues, it may create a toxic bomb in future," the report sounds a word of caution.The report - 'Municipal Solid Waste Disposal in Pune City - An Analysis of Air and Groundwater Pollution' has been prepared by Amar M Dhere of Department of Environmental Science of Indira College of Commerce and Science, Pune, Chandrashekar B Pawar of Department of Environmental Science, Sangola College, Sangola, Pratapsingh Pardesi of Department of Geography, SM College, Akluj and Dhanraj A Patil of YASHADA-Pune. "Conversion technology entailing conversion of solid waste to energy is proving helpful for decomposing solid waste without affecting the environment. Also, the community-based solid waste decomposition is an ideal and a safe disposal method, biological decomposition of segregated organic waste is more beneficial for solid waste management, as it easily converts waste to valuable fertilizer," the report points out.
On an average 1,000-1,200 mt solid waste is generated per day from the Pune municipal area. This unsegregated solid waste is disposed at a landfill site near Urali-Devachi village. About 43 hectares of land has been allocated for solid waste disposal, of which 15 hectares area is already landfilled and has been sealed-off permanently. The present practice of solid waste disposal consists of biological decomposition of waste and landfilling. Extra molecular (EM) culture is applied over solid waste for decomposing the organic matter. However, due to the unsegregated waste, complete decomposition is not possible. Only 150 mt decomposed organic matter is segregated per day and collected from local farmers, to be used as manure, while the remaining is left as it is for landfilling. This solid waste disposal and management practice causes various environmental problems in Urali-Devachi village. The burning of solid waste creates heavy smoke and dust pollution.The Pune municipal solid waste (MSW) disposal and management practice has led to air pollution and ground aquifer pollution in Urali- Devachi village. This as well as current practices of uncontrolled dumping of waste have created a serious environmental and public health problem. If this MSW landfill continues, it may create a toxic bomb in the future.The conversion technologies of wastes to energy (WTE) are clean, safe and pose negligible environmental risk to the public and are an attractive option for recovering energy from waste. There are over 600 successful WTE facilities around the world and about 100 in the US. Several big cities in China have incinerators for recovering energy from solid waste27.Bio-composting of segregated kitchen and domestic and commercial, organic waste is a contributory solution to convert waste into valuable fertilizer.

MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE
Compositable matter PaperPlastic Rag MetalGlass pieceAshScrap materialWaste papers
Dead animalsDiscarded chemicalsPaintsHazardous hospitable wasteAgricultural residue
HIGHLIGHTS
Urban centres of India produce 1,20,000 tonnes of solid waste per dayUnscientific disposal creates problems for environment Methane gas constitutes about 60 per cent in a solid waste landfillDuring landfilling of solid waste, continuous pressure results in the quizzing of a contaminated liquid as leachatePolluted groundwater is unfit for drinking and causes jaundice, nausea, asthma, miscarriage and infertility

bluetooth technology

2008-11-18T06:47:00.001-08:00

November 17, 2008

BLUETOOTH WONDER
Blue-tooth installed at Siddhivinayak, Mahalaxmi temples

Mumbai: Now one can receive pictures of Gods and Goddess, bhajans and security instructions free on their bluetooth-enabled cellphones when they visit the famous Siddhivinayak, Mahalaxmi and Mumbadevi temples. Similar technology is also being used at the malls to attract a clientele.

"This is probably one of the best ways to send messages to devotees and buyers. And the message is free because the revenue model is interesting," says Anshuman Sharma of Equifone Solutions Pvt Ltd, which has installed these devices. Moreover, those who don't want the messages on their cellphones, would not get – and would not be disturbed.

The service works on Bluetooth technology and creates a Bluetooth zone where visitors can download infotainment content like live news, weather, stocks, games, ringtones, movie clips, themes etc. on their mobile phones free of cost. "In this case our revenue model is advertisements and we share these revenues with our location partner," he said.
Equifone has implemented this technology at temples, streets and subways. They have implemented Bluemagix at Mahalaxmi temple at Mahalaxmi, at Siddhivinayak Temple, Mumbadevi Temple Here devotees can download Bhakti content, spritual content, devi's pictures, aartis, temple instructions, police instructions etc. on their mobile phones, free of cost. This technology enables even passer-by (persons in bus, cars, walking etc.) to receive bhakti content on their mobile phones. The beauty of this technology is that receiving and also sending is completely free.

Talking about the technology, Sharma said that Bluemagix create a sphere of 35 mts radius – which means the diameter is 70 mts. In this zone, when the person enters he is asked to switch bluetooth on and then –whether or now he wants the messages to be displayed. If he answers in affirmative, he starts receiving messages on his cellphone.
Very soon, the technology would also be explained to the police, so that they too can use it for passing messages. "One of the beauty of the technology is that it cannot be hacked and tampered with," he said.

sadhvi alleges torture

2008-11-18T06:45:00.000-08:00

November 17, 2008
SADHVI ALLEGES TORTURE
I wanted to end my life after being beaten: Pragya

Mumbai: One of the key conspirators of the September 29 Malegaon blast, sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur alias Purnachetananadagiri on Monday said that she was beaten up so badly by officials of the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) that she thought of ending her life. At the same time, she also alleged that the arrests were politically motivated - and also accused the investigating agency of illegally detaining her. "I was physically and verbally traumatized to the extent that I wanted to commit suicide," the sadhvi said in her affidavit filed before chief judicial magistrate of Nashik. Her LML Freedom was used in the blast and according to ATS, she was part of the conspiracy to carry out the blast that claimed five lives and injured more than 50 others at the weavers' town of Malegaon.She alleged in the seven-page affidavit that she was verbally abused and severely beat with a belt on hands, forearms, palms, feet, soles, causes her bruises, swelling and contusions in the areas.In her affidavit, she said: "On October 12 the ATS changed the mode of interrogation and became extremely aggressive with me. At first they asked my disciple Bhimsing Pasricha to beat me with sticks, belts etc., on my palms, forehands, soles, etc. When Pasricha refused to do so, he was severely beaten by the ATS. Ultimately with the greatest reluctance, he complied with the ATS orders but obviously being my disciple, he exerted the very minimum of force on me. He was then pushed aside by a member of the ATS squad known as Khanwilkar, who then himself commenced beating me severely with a belt on my hands, forearms, palms, feet, soles, causing me bruises, swelling and contusions in these areas."
She goes on to allege that the interrogation become severe the next day. "From the October 13 onwards, I was beaten during the day, night and midnight. On two occasions I was even woken up in the early hours of the morning at 4 am and questioned about my knowledge of the blast. On these occasions, I was beaten by a senior officer having a moustache, whom I can identify. In addition I was subjected to vulgar abuse and obscene language by members of the ATS team interrogating me. My guru was abused and my chastity was questioned. I was physically and verbally traumatized to the extent that I wanted to commit suicide." "As a result of the custodial violence/torture, mental stress, anxiety that were developed in the process, I was subjected to, I developed acute abdominal and kidney pains. I lost my appetite, became nauseous and giddy and prone to having bouts of unconsciousness," she said and added that she was also taken to a local hospital. Pragya said that the ATS was 'fully aware' that she was 'innocent'. "It appears however that they have a mandate from their political superiors to necessarily implicate me with Malegaon blast with a view to suggest that Hindu religious extremists were resorting to terrorism. The prolonged illegal detention, custodial abuse and physical torture were designed to compel me to confess to crimes, I had not committed," she said.

electronic cigarettes

2008-11-18T06:41:00.000-08:00

June 24, 2008

E-cigarettes will help you quit smoking now
MRITYUNJAY BOSE

Mumbai: Now e-cigarettes are also set to zoom into the Indian market – and these will help you quit smoking. Though already into existence in United States, United Kingdom, China, Turkey and several other countries, e-cigarettes are now available in the country. E-cigarettes are non-inflammable electronic gadget – and works on an extremely scientific principle.

Chennai-based firm, SPK has already launched e-cigarettes it in the southern parts of the country on May 31, the World No Tobacco Day. "Now we are looking at having the product all over the country," Sunil Kumar, the proprietor of the company, told 'Sakaal Times' on Tuesday from Chennai.

"For quitting smoking you need will power, our product helps us quit smoking in a phased manner," Kumar said. "On the business side, the product is going to have a very good demand in India," he said.

It is a sort of a technology intensive product – it uses high-tech silicon chip, air flow sensor, integrated circuits, high-frequency ultrasonic generator, atomizing chamber, rechargeable lithium batteries and other micro-electronic components, which gives the smoker's the real effects and the same satisfaction of a traditional cigarette without the danger of tobacco and cancer causing chemicals.

The atomizing chamber converts the diluted liquid nicotine into harmless vapor, which satisfies the smoker by giving the nicotine hit that smoker's need and to achieve the perfect state of smoking without pain and suffering or the danger of 4000 chemicals. "Twenty-four of the chemicals are carcinogenic in nature," he said.

An e-cigarette contains propylene glycol, nicotine, water and food perfume. "It is extensively tested," he said and has required international certifications. It also does not stain teeth – and has no tar or cancer causing substances.

Pressed for details of the product, he said that the package (which would last for three months) costs nearly Rs 3,600 and has 45 cartridges. Of these – 13 each are marked High, Medium and Low and besides this 6 are marked No. "After the use of the e-cigarettes, one can quit smoking," he said and pointed out that they have also launched a website –
www.electroniccigarette.in - and they are getting good hits. "Even if you look at the website, you will feel like quitting smoking," he said. The price is like Rs 4 per cigarette.

moon mission simulation

2008-11-18T06:40:00.001-08:00

July 15, 2008

Simulated launch of Chandrayan-1 at Nehru Centre

Mumbai: India's mission to Moon will now be simulated at the Nehru Planetarium at Worli here – where people can experience the launch on Chandrayan-1 on the sky theatre.

The simulated launch is part of "Conquest of the Moon & Secrets of the Sun" is the 33rd in the production line of this planetarium, which would be unveiled on Thursday. "It gives the viewer a great experience," Nehru Planetarium's Programme Coordinator Suhas B Naik-Satam told 'Sakaal Times'. "It is a new concept and it appears that the viewer is part of the launch," he said, adding that the simulated launch lasts for nearly 10 minutes.

Chandrayan-1 is expected to be launched in September this year by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

The programme describes the Moon's physical parameters, orbit, phases; eclipses and related misconceptions; tides; nakshatras and commemorates the landing of man on Moon in 1969.

Satam said the simulation shows the launch of Chandrayaan-1 using the PSLV-XL rocket, orbital insertion, lunar orbit manoeuvres, Lunar Laser Ranging Instrument (LLRI) in action, Moon Impact Probe (MIP) crashing on Moon and lot more.

It also incorporates a 20-minute programme "Secrets of the Sun" that gives information about Sun. This movie has been received from the Evans & Sutherland of USA – the makers of our Digistar-3 planetarium equipment.

As usual this show has been rendered in the three language versions, namely, Hindi, Marathi and English. The concept, script and visualization are by Piyush Pandey, Director Planetarium. The English and Hindi versions have been narrated by Harish Bhimani and that of Marathi is by Ajit Bhure. " The animations that one will see in the first part (Moon) have been done by Aayushi Animations," Satam added.

stoves

2008-11-18T06:38:00.000-08:00

July 9

From: Mrityunjay Bose

RURAL HOUSEHOLD

Now a stove that cooks and reduce air : In an effort to address the increasing and harmful impact of indoor air pollution in India, a range of clean burning biomass cooking stoves will be introduced in the country. Designed by an international team of globally recognised scientists and engineers, the stoves reduce toxic emissions by as much as 80 per cent while using 50 per cent less fuel and reducing cooking cycle time by 40 per cent. The cooking stoves have been developed as a result of a partnership between Envirofit and Shell Foundation (UK), initially launched in 2007, to engineer and deliver clean burning biomass stoves that are affordable and attractive to people, who are impacted by indoor air pollution (IAP). "Biomass (wood, crop waste and animal dung) is likely to remain the primary cooking fuel for a large majority of rural Indian households for many years to come. Against this background and the alarming number of annual indoor air pollution-related deaths world over, we are committed to developing products that will make a significant contribution to healthier and cleaner living," said Envirofit India Pvt Ltd general manager Harish Anchan. "Through the stoves we have developed, we are providing women an opportunity to continue to cook as they would before, but in an environment that is less polluting and hazardous." "There are an estimated 1.6 million deaths per year due to toxic indoor air pollution (IAP). We are proud to be partnered with Envirofit International to introduce clean burning wood stove technology in India while employing the first market-based business model," said Ajit Abraham of Shell Foundation India, who supports the project as part of their Breathing Space Programme. "The aim is to see 10 million stoves sold in five countries in the next five years."
The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that pollution levels in rural Indian kitchens are 30 times higher than recommended levels and six times higher than air pollution levels found in New Delhi.

boat race

2008-11-18T06:37:00.000-08:00

Cochin to host boat event
MRITYUNJAY BOSE

Mumbai: The Cochin Port is getting ready for a unique maritime regalia - for it would be hosting the India stopover of the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09.
It is for the first time in the 35-year history of the race, regarded as the ultimate in ocean racing competition that an Indian port has been chosen for the stopover.
The race is scheduled to stop over in Kochi for 10 days, from December 3 to 13, according to Cochin Port Trust officials.
The race is the ultimate in world-class water-sporting competition on the extreme edge of adventure, drama and endurance.
The participants of the race, several of them are Olympians, require physical endurance and sheer grit of the highest order to deal with life at the extreme, as they race day and night for more than 20 days at a stretch in some of the legs, facing potential dangers such as gales and storms, icebergs, ocean debris and the whales!
The race will commence its round-the-world marathon sailing in October 2008 and cover more than 39,000 nautical miles, visiting 11 ports across the world.
Starting from Alicante, it would stopover at Cape Town, Cochin, Qingdao, Rio de Janeiro, Boston, Galway, Goteborg and Stockholm, before reaching the finishing line at St Petersburg.
Apart from the world's fastest ocean racing yachts with state-of-the-art technology backup, the event would also attract hundreds of other luxury yachts and sailing vessels of different depiction, making the event spectacular.
The race is scheduled to stop over in Kochi for 10 days, from December 3 to 13, 2008. The event will be jointly hosted by the Cochin Port Trust and Department of Tourism, Government of Kerala, with the support of the Yachting Association of India.
Seven teams drawn from different countries of the world like United States of America (USA), Australia, Brazil, Argentina, Holland, Sweden and Spain have already confirmed their participation in the race this year.
Cochin Port has already initiated actions for redevelopment of the roads and public amenities at the North End of Willingdon Island, development of land and covered areas for housing the hospitality pavilions of the race organisers, racing teams, sponsors, pavilion for exhibitions etc.
Discussions were held on designing the proposed race village, special berthing arrangements required for the race boats, berthing requirements of other boats and yachts visiting the port during that period.
Discussions were also held on the marketing plan and various sponsorship and advertising opportunities related to the event. Marketing agency has already started discussions with potential business houses in India to garner sponsorships for the event.

force multipliers

2008-11-18T06:34:00.000-08:00

August 7, 2008

FORCE-MULTIPLIERS

Private guards to gather intelligence CCTVs and dogs to maintain vigil during Ganpati

Mumbai: With terrorist activities increasing in urban centres, private security guards will now be treated as force-multipliers and would help men in uniform in intelligence gathering. They have been instructed to maintain a discreet watch in their surroundings and report anything suspicious to their heads and pass it on to the police. Over the last few days, members of Security Association of India (SAI) has met officials of Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai police, where several issues related to beefing up intelligence machinery were discussed. "We would play a very proactive role in gathering information and help the police," Gurcharan Singh Chauhan, the SAI president, told Sakaal Times on Thursday. SAI has already met Deputy Commissioner of Police (Headquarters), Pravin Pawar in Navi Mumbai, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone-I), Sahebrao Patil in Thane. They have also sought an appointment with the Mumbai police chief, Hasan Gafoor, Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order), K L Prasad and Special Inspector General of Police in-charge of Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), Hemant Karkare. The meeting was mainly to discuss the arrangements for the forthcoming Ganpati and Dahi-handi festivals, however, gathering of information that can be actionable, was also on the agenda. On Wednesday, Director General of Police A N Roy while addressing a meeting of senior police officials, which included superintendents of police of all the districts, inspector generals of police and commissioners, had asked his force to focus more on intelligence gathering. Chauhan pointed out that there are nearly 1.5 lakh private security guards and security supervisors, who with their prompt actions can reduce the burden of policemen with some simple precautions. "Many of them stay in slums and they have been told to keep a watch on what is happening in the vicinity and report accordingly," he said. "We have also given a list of dos and don'ts to all the private security guards with telephone number of control rooms," he said. "We have asked all of them to lay a special emphasis on parking lots and look for vehicles and by-cycles lying unattended for a long time," he added. All security guards have been asked to keep a diary and a pen with them and jot down what they feel could be important for reporting to policemen.
He also said that this year for the Ganpati festival, many mandals in Mumbai and its suburbs have opted for CCTVs and metal detectors. "Some of them have also requisitioned for sniffer dogs. There are nearly 15 to 20 agencies, which specialise in sniffer dogs," he said. As regards the total number of private security agencies in Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai, if one goes by registered ones they are over 300. Says Chauhan: "We are well aware that people, not only in the State, but of the entire country are living in danger due to subversive activities of terrorists, extremists and Maoists. People living in urban areas and big and major cities face the major threat. There are bomb blasts at regular intervals. In view of these, we have decided to have meetings on a regular basis. After all we are also doing the same job as they are - and together we can make a difference."
DOSPlease inform the police of any suspicious object Switch of mobiles, flashes, radios near the suspicious objectPlace few sand bags around the object; do not cover it with sandBefore renting/selling vehicles/cycles look for ID proof Maintain logbook in all cyber cafesMaintain record of STD/ISD users near Ganpati mandals
DON'TSDo not touch suspicious objectsDo not crowd around the object Do not panic or heed to rumoursDo not assume there is only one suspicious objectDo not try to handle or neutralise the suspicious objectDo no obstruct the movement of police

pune terror link

2008-11-18T06:32:00.000-08:00

August 19, 2008

From: Mrityunjay Bose
TERROR LINK

Blasts in Mumbai in past had Pune linksAccused had SIMI links

Mumbai/Pune: With terror-busters hunting for operatives of Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) operatives in Pune and deactivate sleeper cells in the wake of July 26 serial blasts in Ahmedabad and recovery of live bombs in Surat, one thing has become clear - Maharashtra's culture city is not immune to the presence of terrorists and their sympathisers. In the recent past - in two major bomb blasts cases - accused had been arrested from Pune. In the July 11, 2006 chain blasts in Mumbai's suburban trains - one Suhail Shaikh was arrested from Pune, who was a close friend of absconder Rizwan Daware, who had channelised funds from the Gulf for the blasts. Shaikh was a resident of Bhipmura, Lashkar area, Camp, Pune. Another accused in the same case, Abdul Wahid Din Mohammed Shaikh was also from Pune and he used to stay in Nanapeth, Bhawanipeth areas. Daware (also spelt as Dawrey) was resident of Permanand Park, Shivarkar Road, Vanawadi in Pune. Similarly, in connection with the March 13, 2004 blasts inside a suburban local in Mulund, one Anwar Ali was arrested and he was a part-time lecturer at the National Defence Academy (NDA), the premier armed forces training institute that churns out officers for the three services. It is also to be noted here that Mohammed Faisal Ataur Rehman Shaikh, one of the main accused in the July 11 blasts had allegedly travelled to Pakistan and Jeddah by a passport that was issued from Regional Passport Office-Pune. He was trained by Azam Cheema alias Babaji, one of the top Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) commanders based in Bahawalpur. Suhail Shaikh too has also undergone training under Cheema.Be it the July 11 blasts or the Mulund blasts - in both cases in suburban trains, Western Railway and Central Railway, respectively - the said accused are linked with a common thread - they were some time or the other were part of the outlawed Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).
Suhail, the Pune youth, was one of the major players in the 11/7 blasts case. He along with Faisal and Zameer Ahmed Latifur Rehman Shaikh had surveyed places like World Trade Centre, Bombay Stock Exchange, Mahalaxmi temple, Siddhivinayak temple, local trains and large shopping complexes and had told the conspirators that local trains were the soft target and suitable for explosions. Investigators have found out that Faisal met Daware in the late nineties when both of them used to attend sessions of SIMI. Here only, they allegedly adopted the 'jehadi' ideology and in 2001, Faisal went to Pakistan with the help of contacts by crossing the Wagah border. There he contacted members of Markat-ul Dawa, the civilian wing of Lashkar and then penetrated into the core group of Lashkar. "After that he was trained by Azam Cheema," the sources said. When Faisal's house was raided by cops, they found 26,000 Saudi Riyals - of which 15,000 Saudi Riyals was apparently sent by Daware on July 6 - five days before the chain of explosions and 11,000 Saudi Riyals on July 12. When the police raided the Pune residence of Sohail, one passport having visa for Tehran was seized besides a photostat copy of Central-East Asia indicating route from India to Muzzafarabad in Pakistan via Tehran and 'jehadi' literature was seized. Investigations have also revealed that Sohail was detained for 15 days under Section 151(3) of the CrPC by the Lashkar police station in 2003. Besides transferring money to Faisal and other Indian operatives, Daware also used to pass on the messages of Cheema to them.

boat race

2008-07-17T01:56:00.001-07:00

July 9, 2008

Cochin to host boat event
MRITYUNJAY BOSE

Mumbai: The Cochin Port is getting ready for a unique maritime regalia - for it would be hosting the India stopover of the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09.
It is for the first time in the 35-year history of the race, regarded as the ultimate in ocean racing competition that an Indian port has been chosen for the stopover.
The race is scheduled to stop over in Kochi for 10 days, from December 3 to 13, according to Cochin Port Trust officials.
The race is the ultimate in world-class water-sporting competition on the extreme edge of adventure, drama and endurance.
The participants of the race, several of them are Olympians, require physical endurance and sheer grit of the highest order to deal with life at the extreme, as they race day and night for more than 20 days at a stretch in some of the legs, facing potential dangers such as gales and storms, icebergs, ocean debris and the whales!
The race will commence its round-the-world marathon sailing in October 2008 and cover more than 39,000 nautical miles, visiting 11 ports across the world.
Starting from Alicante, it would stopover at Cape Town, Cochin, Qingdao, Rio de Janeiro, Boston, Galway, Goteborg and Stockholm, before reaching the finishing line at St Petersburg.
Apart from the world's fastest ocean racing yachts with state-of-the-art technology backup, the event would also attract hundreds of other luxury yachts and sailing vessels of different depiction, making the event spectacular.
The race is scheduled to stop over in Kochi for 10 days, from December 3 to 13, 2008. The event will be jointly hosted by the Cochin Port Trust and Department of Tourism, Government of Kerala, with the support of the Yachting Association of India.
Seven teams drawn from different countries of the world like United States of America (USA), Australia, Brazil, Argentina, Holland, Sweden and Spain have already confirmed their participation in the race this year.
Cochin Port has already initiated actions for redevelopment of the roads and public amenities at the North End of Willingdon Island, development of land and covered areas for housing the hospitality pavilions of the race organisers, racing teams, sponsors, pavilion for exhibitions etc.
Discussions were held on designing the proposed race village, special berthing arrangements required for the race boats, berthing requirements of other boats and yachts visiting the port during that period.
Discussions were also held on the marketing plan and various sponsorship and advertising opportunities related to the event. Marketing agency has already started discussions with potential business houses in India to garner sponsorships for the event.

replica of ajanta caves

2008-07-17T01:55:00.001-07:00

Mumbai: A replica of the famous Ajanta caves will come up at the Tourist Information Centre, which will help to tourists to understand the history of these caves.
A presentation on the Tourist Information Centre and the replica to be developed was made before State Tourism Minister Vijaysinh Mohite-Patil recently, official sources said on Tuesday. Multimedia guides will also be available at the centre.
With the financial assistance of Japan Bank of International Corporation (JBIC), precincts of Ajanta-Ellora will be beautified and the first phase of project is already complete.
Work of Phase II is on and will be completed by 2009. It includes roads, airport area development, water supply, forestry, etc. Modern Tourist Centre as a replica of caves will be constructed at Ajanta. Officials of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Larsen & Toubro were also present during the presentation. Among those who were present include MLA Ranjitsingh Mohite-Patil, managing director of Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation, Jayant Gaikwad and joint managing director, Kiran Kurundkar. The first phase of the project had concentrated on the conservation while the second one will lay stress on tourism. Among the finest examples of some of the earliest Buddhist architecture, caves-paintings and sculptures, Ajanta caves comprise Chaitya Halls, or shrines, dedicated to Lord Buddha and Viharas, or monasteries, used by Buddhist monks for meditation and the study of Buddhist teachings.
The paintings that adorn the walls and ceilings of the caves depict incidents from the life of the Buddha and various Buddhist divinities. Among the more interesting paintings are the Jataka tales, illustrating diverse stories relating to the previous incarnations of the Buddha as Bodhisattva, a saintly being, who is destined to become the Buddha.
Occupied for almost 700 years, the caves of Ajanta seem to have been abandoned rather abruptly. They remained shrouded in obscurity for over a millennium, till John Smith, a British army officer, accidentally stumbled upon them while on a hunting expedition in 1819. The 'View Point' from where John Smith first glimpsed the caves, provides a magnificent sight of the U-shaped gorge and its scenic surroundings. Cascading down the cliff is a spectacular waterfall, which at the bottom feeds a natural pool called the Saptakunda.
Ajanta has been designated as a World Heritage site, to be preserved as an artistic legacy that will continue to inspire and enrich the lives of generations to come.
The caves of Ajanta can be classified into two distinct phases: the earlier Hinayana phase (1), in which the Buddha was worshipped only in the form of certain symbols. And the later Mahayana phase (II), in which the Buddha was worshipped in the physical form.

e-cigarettes

2008-07-17T01:52:00.001-07:00

June 24, 2008

E-cigarettes will help you quit smoking now

MRITYUNJAY BOSE

Mumbai: Now e-cigarettes are also set to zoom into the Indian market – and these will help you quit smoking. Though already into existence in United States, United Kingdom, China, Turkey and several other countries, e-cigarettes are now available in the country. E-cigarettes are non-inflammable electronic gadget – and works on an extremely scientific principle.

Chennai-based firm, SPK has already launched e-cigarettes it in the southern parts of the country on May 31, the World No Tobacco Day. "Now we are looking at having the product all over the country," Sunil Kumar, the proprietor of the company, told 'Sakaal Times' on Tuesday from Chennai.

"For quitting smoking you need will power, our product helps us quit smoking in a phased manner," Kumar said. "On the business side, the product is going to have a very good demand in India," he said.

It is a sort of a technology intensive product – it uses high-tech silicon chip, air flow sensor, integrated circuits, high-frequency ultrasonic generator, atomizing chamber, rechargeable lithium batteries and other micro-electronic components, which gives the smoker's the real effects and the same satisfaction of a traditional cigarette without the danger of tobacco and cancer causing chemicals.

The atomizing chamber converts the diluted liquid nicotine into harmless vapor, which satisfies the smoker by giving the nicotine hit that smoker's need and to achieve the perfect state of smoking without pain and suffering or the danger of 4000 chemicals. "Twenty-four of the chemicals are carcinogenic in nature," he said.

An e-cigarette contains propylene glycol, nicotine, water and food perfume. "It is extensively tested," he said and has required international certifications. It also does not stain teeth – and has no tar or cancer causing substances.

Pressed for details of the product, he said that the package (which would last for three months) costs nearly Rs 3,600 and has 45 cartridges. Of these – 13 each are marked High, Medium and Low and besides this 6 are marked No. "After the use of the e-cigarettes, one can quit smoking," he said and pointed out that they have also launched a website – www.electroniccigarette.in - and they are getting good hits. "Even if you look at the website, you will feel like quitting smoking," he said. The price is like Rs 4 per cigarette.

SAP implemented in temple

2008-07-17T01:49:00.000-07:00

June 11, 2008

From: Mrityunjay Bose

SAP implemented at Gajanan Maharaj sansthan

Buldhana/Mumbai: Roping in modern computer-based technologies, the world famous temple trust of Sri Sant Gajanan Maharaj Sansthan of Shegaon in Buldhana district of Maharashtra has created a sort of firsts. Patni Computer Systems, one of the leading global IT services provider has successfully completed India's first ever SAP ERP implementation for a temple trust.

The Sri Sant Gajanan Maharaj Sansthan at Shegaon, one of the biggest pilgrimage centres of western India. The trust partnered with Patni to implement the SAP ERP solution in order to streamline its various functions including automation of the Trust's donation collection, accounting and inventory management processes – for the pilgrim centre located in the Vidarbha region.

With a daily footfall of 3,000 devotees, a network of nine branches and over 20,000 daily transactions, the trust needed to radically enhance its operational efficiencies. Post the implementation; the management has a unified view of its strategic, operational and transactional activities. It has vastly improved their ability to monitor the day-to-day operations as well as forecast the availability of finances required for sustaining its activities. This, coupled with an extensive change management exercise facilitated by Patni, has enabled seamless knowledge transfer and has improved the staff's ability to handle large volumes of transactions.

Commenting on the progressive step taken by the trust, S S Patil, Chairman, Shri Sant Gajanan Maharaj Sansthan said: "Given the magnitude of our operations, it was important for us to automate our functioning. The combination of SAP's ERP software and Patni's expertise in enterprise applications services and its speed-to-value approach towards ERP implementation has helped us meet our unique requirements. The solution, coupled with Patni's change management program, has led to an increase in manpower utilization at the trust. More importantly, it has helped us reinforce our accountability to institutions and devotees who donate funds to facilitate the trust's smooth functioning."

"We are pleased to partner with the trust for such a prestigious project and are confident that this implementation will show the way to other social institutions in terms of leveraging ERP for improving operational efficiency, ensuring accuracy and transparency in financial reporting, and driving social change," stated Vivekanand Sangle, Senior Manager, Patni. "Given the unique nature of the temple trust, the project provided the Patni team with challenging opportunities like configuring the ERP solution to meet their unique business needs and implementing a change management program to ensure smooth transition from manual operations to a stable ERP environment," he added.

Commenting on the nature of the implementation, Nagaraj Bhargava, Vice President, Marketing, SAP Indian Subcontinent said, "SAP is happy to be part of this pioneering initiative undertaken by Shri Sant Gajanan Maharaj Sansthan, Shegaon – the first temple trust in India to leverage SAP ERP to "technology enable" their operations and provide access to critical information to key stakeholders like devotees, staff and temple trustees."

grass planted to counter landslide

2008-07-17T01:48:00.000-07:00

June 3, 2008

From: Mrityunjay Bose

Vetiver grass planted to prevent landslides on Konkan route

Mumbai: In a unique way to tackle landslides on the rocky and mountainous track of the Konkan Railway, it has now started planning Vetiver saplings along the route, which holds the soil firmly reducing chances of rocks and boulders falling down during the monsoon.

"This is perhaps for the first time such a technology is being used in India," a senior official of the Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd (KRCL) told 'Sakaal Times' on Tuesday, following completion of the pre-monsoon safety work.

More than 50 lakh Vetiver saplings were planted on the soil cuttings along the route since the last monsoon and this monsoon nearly 28 to 30 lakh saplings would be planted.

"Vetiver is a type of grass, and the roots can go as much as four meters inside the soil," the official said pointing out that it makes the soil cuttings more stable and reduces soil erosion. The Konkan Railway route is prone to landslides during the monsoon, but now this innovative solution will prevent landslides.

Meanwhile, several other measures were taken for a hassle-free monsoon – and special attention was given to flattening of slopes and shotcreting works inside tunnels. The geo-safety works done on the route include earthwork for flattening of cutting slope and provision of berms, catchwater drain lining, RCC retaining walls, gabion walls, shotcreting, rock bolting, and so on. Extensive works of this nature had ensured uninterrupted and safe train operations on the route in the last three monsoons.

Apart from this, 24X7 monsoon patrolling will be conducted and footplating will be done by officials in the night to ensure safety along the track.

About 300 patrolmen will patrol the railway line. Instructions have also been issued to the loco drivers to impose speed of 40 kmph in case of heavy rainfall impairing visibility

A special monsoon timetable will also come into effect from June 10 reducing the maximum sectional speed of trains to 75 kmph between Veer-Udupi section (645 km) during monsoon. The special monsoon time-table is being implemented by KRCL since 2005 and has been found to be very effective.
As many as 658 Cell One mobile phones of BSNL have been provided to train drivers, station masters and other field officials. Both drivers and guards of trains have been provided with walkie-talkie sets as well as every station on Konkan Railway is equipped with 25 Watt VHF base station. This enables wireless communication between the train crew as well as train crew and station master.

Emergency communication sockets have been provided at a distance of average one Km along the Konkan Railway route (spacing reduced to 500 metres inside tunnels), that enables the patrolmen, watchmen and other field maintenance staff to contact station master and train controllers during any emergency situations in train operations. Satellite phone communication has been provided in ARMV (Accident Relief Medical Van) situated at Ratnagiri and Verna stations for contacting headquarter control when ARMV is pressed in service.

tiger wine in china

2008-07-17T01:45:00.001-07:00

June 10, 2008

From: Mrityunjay Bose

Animal parks selling tiger bone wine: EIA report

Mumbai: Animal parks in China are selling illegal tiger bone wine made from the remains of the captive big cats which die there, covert investigations by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) have revealed. The expose by the London-based EIA comes ahead of the Olympics to be held in China.

Despite national and international laws banning trade in the body parts of tigers, staff at 'safari' parks offered to sell undercover EIA investigators tiger bone wine and were openly advertising the wine, the EIA claimed in a press release issued from London.

Park staff told EIA they had regular customers for the wine - an alcoholic 'health tonic' made from the crushed bones of deceased tigers and which purports to treat a wealth of conditions including arthritis and rheumatism.

One regular customer bought two cases of wine at a time, it was said. It was offered at up to US $186 (£94) a bottle at one park and "deluxe" gift packs at US $286 (£145) were on sale at another.

One of the parks even showed EIA a certificate they claimed was an official government permit allowing them to sell the wine on the premises only.

Both parks visited said the tigers had died following fights there. They are skinned and carcasses stored in freezers until they can be separated from the bones. The park near Beijing admitted it kept skins but was unclear what happened to them. Trade in skins is also banned under national law and under CITES (the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species).

EIA researchers had followed up one company advertising what appeared to be bone wine on the internet to see if it was a scam. They traced it to the Qinhuangdao Wildlife Rescue Centre in Beidaihe, Hebei Province, just four hours drive from Beijing where it was claimed the bones of "wild" tigers were stored.

However, it was at the neighbouring facility, the privately owned Qinhuangdao Wild Animal Park where EIA investigators were offered tiger bone wine. The park is open to the public, boasting a 'safari' and a circus with performing tigers, lions, bears and primates.

The same company owns Badaling Safari World on the outskirts of Beijing, which had previously been exposed in a 2007 report for openly advertising tiger bone wine. When EIA visited in Dec 2007 it was still offering visitors tiger bone wine. It said there were between 40 and 50 captive-bred tigers on site at that time.

Debbie Banks, Head of EIA's Tiger Campaign, in the press release, said: "Chinese authorities are clearly continuing to turn a blind eye to the illegal trade and EIA is now calling for an urgent crackdown on the trade at these parks."

"We also want other parks with similar tiger 'attractions' to be investigated to see how widespread this tiger bone wine making practice is. We want authorities to give a clear message to the business community that this illegal trade will not be tolerated."

Furthermore, a powerful lobby of the businessmen who own these parks and tiger 'farms' in China is pressuring its government to lift the current domestic ban on trade in tiger body parts so it can commercially produce tiger bone wine from captive animals.

But EIA and many conservation groups say this would be disastrous for endangered wild tigers.

"Lifting the ban would increase demand and lead to a surge in poaching of India's already embattled wild tiger populations. It would be all too easy to launder their skins, bones and parts among those from legalised tiger farms. This would be effectively declare an open season on wild tigers," said Debbie Banks.

james bond

2008-05-28T03:49:00.000-07:00

BOND, JAMES BOND
May 28 marks centenary of 007's creator Ian Fleming
Mrityunjay Bose
For all lovers of James Bond thrillers and novels, May 28 is a special day and in 2008, it is a day to remember. Ian Fleming, the genius who created James Bond – was born on this day 100 years ago. Fleming (May 28, 1908 – August 12, 1964) is still one of the widely read novelists, more than 40 years after his death.

The James Bond series of movies – in which several legendary actors have played the character of the fictional British spy, are still hit – such was the magic and thrill of the man whom he created – the world's best known secret agent. To highlight – over a 100 Bond novels have been sold till date, since the first which was launched in 1953. All the James Bond movies were big grossers.

Ian Fleming was born on May 28, 1908 in London, the second of four brothers. He was educated at Eton and did further studies in Austria and in Germany.Writing was far from being Fleming's first or expected career. He tried for the army after leaving school, but that didn't work out, and he sat the exams for the Foreign Office but did not pass high enough to be accepted for a diplomatic career.In the thirties, he worked briefly for Reuters, a news agency. This gave him invaluable experience of writing fast and accurately. But in order to make more money he became a stockbroker instead – and not a very successful one. At the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, he was recruited to be the personal assistant to the Director of Naval Intelligence, and there, at the Admiralty, he remained throughout the war. It was his experience in this job that was to provide many of the characters and incidents that he was to write about later in the Bond books.

After the war he became foreign manager for Kemsley newspapers, working chiefly for the Sunday Times. But his creative imagination remained under wraps until 1952, When, at the age of 43, he settled down in his house in Jamaica, and produced – in not much more than two months - Casino Royale, the first adventure of James Bond.

He married Ann Rothermere that same year, after a long on-off relationship. It was his first marriage and her third. They had one son, Caspar, for whom Ian Fleming wrote Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Fleming died on August 12, 1964 of a heart attack, his Bond books having become enormously successful, and having seen his character played by Sean Connery in the first two films, Dr No and From Russia with Love.

Ian Fleming' interests included cars, and golf, swimming and snorkelling, and book-collecting.He built up a very distinguished book collection. The theme of the collection was 'Mile Stones of Human Progress' and included volumes as diverse as Einstein's 'Theory of Relativity' and the first book on golf. This collection now belongs to the Lilly Library at Indiana University, according to http://www.ianflemingcentenary.com/, a website dedicated to the centenary celebrations.

The Ian Fleming Publications Ltd is celebrating the anniversary with several exciting publishing events. The highlights of the year-long centenary celebrations include include the worldwide publication of Devil May Care, the brand new Bond novel written by Sebastian Faulks, and a major exhibition celebrating Fleming's life at the Imperial War Museum in London.

Fleming was also an accomplished and vivid travel writer. A series for the Sunday Times about a trip round the world was published in book form entitled Thrilling Cities. A series about the diamond trade was published as The Diamond Smugglers. New editions of these will shortly be made available by the publishers.

When a senior Intelligence officer was asked about the James Bond novels, he said: "These are interesting. The first is the language and use of English and secondly the thrill. However, these are basically fictional stories, and sometimes unrealistic. But it helps learn tricks of the trade."

After Fleming's death in 1964, subsequent James Bond novels were written by Kingsley Amis (as Robert Markham), John Pearson, John Gardner and Raymond Benson. In addition Charlie Higson has begun to write a series of books detailing the "Young James Bond. In July 2007, it was announced that Sebastian Faulks has been commissioned to write a Bond novel for publication in 2008. Moreover, Christopher Wood novelised two screenplays, while other writers have authored unofficial versions of the character.

List of James Bond books:

Casino Royale (1953)
Live and Let Die (1954)
Moonraker (1955)
Diamonds Are Forever (1956)
From Russia with Love (1957)
Dr. No (1958)
Goldfinger (1959)
For your Eyes Only (1960)
Thunderball (1961)
The Spy Who Loved Me (1962)
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1963)
You Only Live Twice (1964)'
The Man With The Golden Gun (1965)
Octopussy and the Living Daylights (1966)

Actors who played James Bond

Sean Connery
Roger Moore
George Lazenby
Timothy Dalton
Pierce Brosnan
Daniel Craig

kalam+diplomacy

2008-05-25T10:22:00.000-07:00

The diplomat in missile man
MRITYUNJAY BOSE

"Be polite; write diplomatically, even in declaration of war one observes the rule of politeness" – Otto von Bismarck, the famous Prussian and German statesman of the 19th century had said.

And scientists can be diplomats too. Former President Dr A P J Abdul Kalam, the father of India's missile programme and one of the key architects of the Pokharan-II nuclear tests, had proved this time and again. Particularly, when foreign guests had called on him at the Rrashtrapati Bhavan and his visits abroad during the years of Presidency from 2002-07.

A new book 'The Kalam Effect – My Years with the President' penned by bureaucrat P M Nair, who was the Secretary to the President, has brought out many interesting facts on the life of Dr Kalam. One of the interesting memories with Dr Kalam was when Pakistan President Gen Pervez Musharraf called on him. A day before the General was to call on; Nair informed him that Musharraf in all likelihood would raise the Kashmir issue and that he has to be prepared for the same. But Dr Kalam's reply was – "Don't worry, I shall deal with it."

When Gen Musharraf arrived in cavalcade of cars and was led to the North Drawing Room on the first floor of Rashtrapati Bhavan. "Kalam received him in state, ushered him to the seat and sat next to him. The Indian and Pakistani officials occupied their appointed places. The call began, slated for 30 minutes," writes Nair in his book. And Kalam began.

"Mr President, like India you have lot of rural areas and don't you think we should both do what ever is possible to develop them on priority?" What could General Musharraf say but 'Yes'. And then Kalam really began. "Mr President, I will tell you something about PURA very briefly. PURA means Providing Urban Facilities in Rural Areas'. The plasma screen came alive and the description of what PURA was and what it could achieve lasted a 'brief' 26 minutes.

Gen Musharraf evinced keen interest and when it was over, smiled and said, "Thank You, Mr President. India is lucky to have a scientist President like you'. Handshakes followed and adieu. "Scientists can be diplomats too," recalls Nair.

Dr Kalam also presented yet another example of diplomacy when he addressed the European Parliament following an invitation by the then President Joseph Borrel Fontelles, and when he addressed the President was Hans-Gert Pottering. "Kalam's address to the European Parliament comprising 27 nations was fixed for April 25, 2007 and he was allotted 25 minutes for the address," writes Nair, pointing out that it would be the first time when any Indian President would address the European Parliament.

Nair adds in his memoirs: "…I made it a point to tell him day after day, at the risk of being obnoxious, that he should limit his speech to 25 minutes. The overrun to the 26th minute would not exactly bring glory to him or to the nation. The Foreign Secretary, Shiv Shankar Menon, told him the same thing. Nalin Surie, Secretary (West) in the External Affairs Ministry, advised him similarly. Kalam heard them all quietly."

Nair made it a point to remind Dr Kalam once again later – when he saw the 29 page speech - to which the Bharatratna recipient replied – "Okay, okay…I will edit it don't worry, I will not exceed the time limit".

Finally the day came. The European Parliament hall in Strasbourg, France. Dr Kalam had a scheduled preliminary meeting with Pottering for about 10 minutes and then they entered the hall. There was an introduction for a minute and a half, and then the President began his address.

"Minutes ticked by. The audience rose to applaud him twice. It was close to 25 minutes and there was not sign of stopping. The PowerPoint slides kept on coming. I started perspiring. The allotted time was already over. Half an hour, thirty-five, forty minutes…. My discomfort was all too evident to anyone who looked at me. Then I heard Kalam say – 'I have composed a poem for you. This is from Mother Earth to the European Parliament. Shall I read it for you?' he said in his innocuous way. And having received assent, he read out," writes Nair.

He finished and the members stood up again and gave thunderous ovation. Forty-five minutes have gone by. President Pottering rose to thank Kalam. "We have never heard such a speech. Thank you, Mr President," was the gist of it. Later in the day, one-on-one, Nair asked Dr Kalam – "Sir, how did you chose to exceed the 25 minutes given to you? I was worried.' He smiled and said, 'You know what I did. During our introductory meeting, I told their President that you gave me only 25 minutes, but I have composed a poem for you and this may take some more time. And he said "Ok, go ahead, you may take my time too."

neem-paddy

2008-05-25T10:21:00.000-07:00

Neem cake can increase paddy yield: study
MRITYUNJAY BOSE

Mumbai: For centuries, Indians have known the medicinal uses of neem tree. Known as one of the fastest growing and life-giving trees, today the properties of neem are accepted worldwide. Eco-friendly products made from neem leaves, its seeds, fruits are in demand across the globe. As regards agriculture, it is already been used as a pesticide.

Now, two Puducherry-based researchers have established that if neem cake and urea are mixed, it can increase the growth of paddy. The study makes a strong case for cutting down on nitrogen applications in paddy, thus using low-cost, readily available neem cake, without compromising on the yield. The study can be replicated for other plant species as well.

The research, conducted by R S Bhalla from Foundation for Ecological Research, Advocacy and Learning, Vazhakulam, Puducherry and K V Devi Prasad of Sustainable Development Programme, Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Pondicherry University, Puducherry, shows the way for reducing fertilizer applications. Their study was funded by Department of Science and Technology, New Delhi under the Science and Society Programme.

"In laypersons terms all we did was treat urea with neem cake by mashing it up and drying it in shade before application. This seems to have two major effects on the way the nutrient (nitrogen) is made available to the paddy (or any other) plant," Bhalla told 'Sakaal Times'.

He said that halving the urea used and pelleting the remaining with neem cake prior to the application achieved significant increase in the growth of paddy plant parts.

Explaining how it works, he said: "It prevents the nitrogen from being consumed by organisms which would turn it back into a gas - and make it un-available to the plant and it slows down the release of the nitrogen so it doesn't wash away with the irrigation water. This is because the urea binds to the neem cake and is not immediately dissolved in water."
Indeed, it is a simple intervention and requires limited amount of work or investment. Neem cake is also a good pesticide and kills off soil pests such as nematodes and deters stem borers.Another aspect of our experiment was that it was conducted with the help of farmers in their fields. "This participatory action research can be a very useful tool for agricultural extension agencies and organisations involved in appropriate agriculture," Bhalla points out.

In their study, the Puducherry-based researchers point out that environmental impacts of nitrogenous fertilizers include contamination of local groundwater resources and rivers and emission of nitrous oxide, which is both, a greenhouse gas as well as a major cause of ozone depletion.

The farmer's field-based experiment-cum-demonstration was conducted in two villages, Thuruvai (Puducherry) and Rayapudupakkam (Tamil Nadu). Results on the non-averaged dataset showed significant increase in leaf strength, number of leaves, number of panicles, number of tillers and greenness of leaves.

rare eye surgery

2008-05-22T19:06:00.000-07:00

January 5, 2008
From: Mrityunjay Bose

Tooth in eye operation performed

MUMBAI: Poor Bakridi is a happy man. He has gained his eyesight of his left eye – thanks to the doctors of the Bombay Hospital and Research Centre here, who performed the rare and complex "tooth-in-eye" surgery.
A canine tooth is implanted in his eye – and it did the magic.
Interestingly, the canine tooth is also known as the "eye-tooth".
"The doctors here are like God," says Bakridi, for whom ulcers in his eye had left him completely blind. Bow now the vision of one of his eye has been restored – and he can see. "I can't say anything. The only thing that I can do is to thank them, they have not charged a single paisa from me," says Bakridi, 60, who hails from Basti in Uttar Pradesh, and now staying at Begampura here.

The operation team was led by Dr Sonia Nankani of Taparia Institute of Ophthalmology, which is a part of the Bombay Hospital located at the New Marine Lines here. "It is a difficult and complex surgery. It is for the first time it has been conducted in this part of the world," says Dr Ashish Tiwari of Bombay Hospital.

When he came here he was "completely blind", said Dr Tiwari. "For the last 18 to 20 years, he was experiencing ulcer in his eyes. The problem started nearly 18 to 20 years ago, and since the last two years he was not able to see. He underwent three cornea transplant earlier, but all of them failed," he said.

When he met Dr Nankani, a plan for revival was chalked out. "Today, he can see, vision of his left eye has been restored," he said.

In medical parlance, the "tooth-in-eye" surgery is known as Osteo-Odonto Keratoprosthesis (OOKP). It is a complex two-stage operation which aims to restore vision to the most severe cases of corneal and ocular surface patients for whom all previous attempts to restore vision had failed. The procedure involves removing a canine tooth from the patient, shaping and drilling it to allow implantation of an artificial plastic corneal device (optical cylinder), and ultimately implanting it back into one eye a few months later.

Explaining the procedure, Dr Tiwari said: "One of his tooth was removed. A hole was made. And it was fixed below the eyelid and after three months blood vessels and vein tissues grew there. It was then fixed in the eye – so that it reaches the retina."

advani on nuclear tests

2008-05-07T03:48:00.000-07:00

Advani had tears of emotions after Pokharan-II

For Leader of Opposition L K Advani, the Pokharan-II nuclear tests were extremely emotional moment in his life. But the former Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister lashes out at the Congress and Communists for criticizing the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) for conducting the tests, who he says has been a major contributor of national resurgence – and also touches on the negative aspect of the Indo-US nuclear deal.

"The Vajpayee government got down to the task of governance in right earnest. The first and foremost task was to make India a nuclear weapons power – a vital commitment in every election manifesto of the BJP since 1967," he writes in his memoirs 'My Country, My Life'.

"Our government's greatest achievement was instilling a sense of pride, confidence and hope in Indians, both within and outside India. A major contributor to this national resurgence was of course, a historic event that took place on May 11, 1998, conforming our resolve to make India 'shaktishali' (strong), 'samruddha' (prosperous) and 'swabhimani' (self-confident)," he writes.

It was, he says, on the auspicious occasion of Buddha Purnima, the day of Gautam Buddha's birth, when this long standing commitment of the BJP was translated into reality. On that very morning, Atal Bihari Vajpayee had shifted residence from 7 Safdarjung Road to Prime Minister's official residence: 7 Racecourse Road. The mandatory puja had been completed but the day was destined to become memorable for him, and for the nation, for another reason.

Sitting in the PM's living room were seven of us – Atalji, Defence Minister George Fernandes, Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission Jaswant Singh, Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha, the PM's Political Advisor Pramod Mahajan, his Principal Secretary Brajesh Mishra and myself, he recalls, "We were eagerly awaiting a message from the deserts of Rajasthan – to be precise, from Pokharan."

The message came, slightly before 4 pm, on a specially installed top-security telephone line: 'Tests Successful'. "India's nuclear scientists had succeeded in conducting three simultaneous nuclear explosions, heralding India's emergence as a nuclear weapons state. None of us in the room could control our emotions. I perhaps the weakest in this regard, had tears in my eyes," Advani recalls.

Vajpayee thanked the scientists who made it happen – in particular Dr A P J Abdul Kalam, Head of Defence Research and Development Organisation (who later became President), Dr R Chidambaram, Head of Department of Atomic Energy, Dr Anil Kakodkar, then the Director of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (currently DAE Seretary) and Dr K Santhanam, Chief Advisor to DRDO. Shortly, thereafter, there was a media announcement. Subsequently, two more nuclear tests were carried out on May 13.

To understand the sentiment fully, it is necessary to know what the codename of the tests, 'Operation Shakti' conveys to the Indian mind. "For over thousand years, India had been a victim of foreign rule due to the superior military power of the invaders. Therefore, when India won freedom from the British rule in 1947, national defence become the highest priority for nationalists so that the shame of defeat and enslavement was never repeated. Hence, self reliance in developing weaponry capable of defending the nation, in the face of gravest of threats, became an unshakeable principle for them," he writes and points out that when Indira Gandhi's government carried out a nuclear test on May 18, 1974, his party complimented the government unhesistantly.

He writes that within a fortnight of Pokharan-II, Pakistan followed suit by conducting underground nuclear explosions at its Chagai testing range in Baluchistan. However, there were significant differences between the nuclear security policies of India and Pakistan. Unlike Pakistan's nuclear weapons programme which is entirely India-centric, India's is not Pakistan-centric, it takes into account the present and future challenges, both regional and global, to our national security. Unlike Pakistan, which does not abide by a no-first-use doctrine, India does. Pakistan's nuclear infrastructure has been built largely with Chinese assistance, with considerable contribution from clandestine methods, whereas India's is based on self reliance, with an impeccable recod of its dealings with international partners. Indeed, Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, founder of Pakistan's nuclear programme, confessed in January 2004 to his involvement in nuclear weapons technology transfers from Pakistan to Libya, Iran and North Korea.

After criticizing the stand of Congress and Communists, advani writes that the debate about India's nuclear deterrent did not end in 1998. It resurfaced in a far more politically explosive manner in 2007 in the context of Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government's decision to enter into a nuclear cooperation agreement with the United States. "It is an unequal deal, promising the illusion of energy security, but, in reality, seeking to undermine India's national security. It undoes India's proud achievements in Pokharan I and II and compromises India's sovereignty in matters of strategic nuclear policies," he writes.

"…whereas Indira Gandhi did India proud with Pokharan I in 1974 and Atal Bihari Vajpayee brought greater strength and pride with Pokharan II in 1998, the Indo-US nuclear deal ensures that no future Indian Prime Minister would be able to conduct Pokharan III even if considerations of national defence necessitated such as step." This, he says, because the Hyde Act passed by the American legislature, which would govern the India-US nuclear cooperation agreement, has in-built provisions for "punitive measures" against India, if it conducted fresh nuclear tests.

new lizard+junnar

2008-05-04T00:07:00.000-07:00

One more new species of lizard discovered in Maharashtra by a scientist of Bombay Natural History Society – a largest species of Hemidactylus from India.
MUMBAI:

The discovery of a new species of ground dwelling lizard Hemidactylus sataraensis by a scientist of the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and his team is still making the news. The same scientist is again succeeded in discovering another new species of a lizard from Junnar taluka in Pune district, Maharashtra. This species also belong to the genus Hemidactylus. The geckos belonging to this genus are chiefly arboreal and many of them are commensal to humans. The lizards or geckos which are seen in the house mostly belong to this genus. In India there are 21 species in this genus. This new lizard from Maharashtra is interestingly the largest species of Hemidactylus from India.
This distinctive new species of gecko is chiefly rock dwelling and is known to occur on the rock cliffs in the northern Western Ghats. This gecko was first photographed by renowned herpetologist Mr. Ashok Captain of Pune. He forwarded these photos to Mr. Varad B. Giri, Scientist ‘B’, Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai for further identification. Varad worked on the photographs and he realised that it is an interesting species. Subsequently Ashok, Varad and their fellow researcher friend Aparna Watwe from Pune conducted a search and reported more specimens from that region.
Varad meticulously worked on these specimens and realised that this is an interesting and undescribed species. He forwarded the details to Dr. Aaron M. Bauer of Villanova University, USA for further confirmation who agreed with Varad’s views. Dr. Aaron M. Bauer is an expert on lizards and an authority in this group. Varad had submitted his findings to a scientific journal, Hamadryad which are published recently. Varad had named this new species honouring Dr. Bauer as Hemidactylus aaronbaueri.
At present this species is only known from the type locality, which lies in the Western Ghats of Maharashtra. Apart from its distinctiveness and ongoing anthropogenic pressure this part of the Western Ghats is unprotected. The discovery of a new, large rock dwelling species of Hemidactylus proves the fact that this region has a unique diversity of herpetofauna. Presently this species is only known from the type locality. But by looking at habitat preference of this species, it is strongly felt that it may be present in other likely regions of the northern Western Ghats and needs immediate attention. This also highlights the need for more intensive systematic surveys in this region to document the diversity. And the data generated will eventually be utilized to conserve the species and its habitats.

हव्किंग गर्ल

2008-04-30T00:41:00.000-07:00

January 18, 2007
हव्किंग तकेस गर्ल टू नैरोबी
BY MRITYUNJAY BOSE

MUMBAI: She is just 21-year-old. She speaks more than seven to eight languages: Hindi, Marathi, Gujarathi, Urdu, to name a few, and of course, English. She had been to jail thrice. She is actually a girl, who used to sell vegetables near the Indian Institute of Technology at Powai.

Anees Fathima Jafar Shaikh or Salma, as she is popularly known, yesterday left for Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, where she would address a session on 'Child Street Vendors' at the World Social Forum on January 22.

An elated Salma, who is the ladies wing chief of Azad Hawkers Union, hours before she left for her first foreign journey told 'The Herald': "I am going to speak on the issue of child labour. I will speak on why one becomes a child labour, what difficulties one faces as child labour. And also what are the advantages or disadvantages of being a child labour."

Azad Hawkers' Union chief Daya Shankar Singh points out: "She is the only one to speak on this subject from whole of Asia at Nairobi. She had been given 10 minutes for this and I and sure she would make her point. This is like crossing seven seas for her."

A girl with good grasping power and intelligence, Salma's journey has not been easy: she started at the age of seven helping her parents and selling vegetables around the IIT-area with a basket on her head. When she was 15, says Salma, she used a 'haath-gaadi' (trolley) and sold vegetables.

But, by then she had several who envied her and also admired her. But three years ago, when a local corporator joined hands with a builder and harassed her, she was totally reformed.

"One day when the makeshift place from where she used to sell vegetables near IIT-Powai was being demolished, she was at home and sick. But someone informed her of this and she immediately went there and protested. She squatted on the street and cited the Supreme Court order which said that hawkers cannot be touched until and unless they are rehabilitated," said Singh.

However, she was taken into a police van later to be found cooling heels at a lock up. Next, when she was leading a rally at Dadar, she was picked up by police and sent to Byculla jail for seven days.

From the Powai-centric agitation to Mumbai-level rallies, she also reached the national capital a year ago. At a function organised by Patna-based National Association of Street Vendors of India in New Delhi, she made a speech, which was appreciated by one and all. At the functions union ministers – S Jaipal Reddy and Shelja were present.

As far as this conference is concerned, says Salma, since "ferrywallas" from all across the globe are convergence, there would be an exchange of ideas. "We are also part of this society, and this needs to be asserted and that every one has the right to earn livelihood," she said.

BARC+supercomputer

2008-04-26T01:56:00.000-07:00

India's Anupam supercomputer is among top 500

MUMBAI: Achieving a new standard in high-performance computers, the Anupam Ajeya supercomputing system has achieved a performance rating of 9 Terraflop in high-performance Linpac benchmark.

"This capability will correspond to a world ranking of around 110 in the family of top 500 super computers," according to Dr Srikumar Banerjee, Director of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), which has developed this supercomputer. The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) grid has now connected four centers – Trombay in Mumbai, Kalpakkam, Kolkata and Indore through this system.

As part of its developmental initiatives, a high resolution Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometer has been designed and fabricated at the Hyderabad-based Centre for Compositional Characterisation of Materials. The spectrometer, which an energy resolution of 2KeV, can provide composition and thickness related information on ultra-thin multi-layers, comprising elements with close atomic numbers.

For the prestigious Chandrayaan-1 Moon Mission of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the BARC has designed and supplied Servo Control Systems for steering and tracking 32-metre solid, parabolic dish antenna of 130 tons with very high tracking speed of 0.4 degree/second.

Dr Banerjee informed that earlier this year the Krushak Irradiator at Lasalgaon became the first Cobalt-60 gamma irradiation facility in the world to be certified by the United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service for phyto-sanitary treatment of mangoes. Consequently, this facility enabled export of 157 tonnes of mangoes, mainly of alphanso and kesar variety to the US, after a gap of 18 years.

greg-ganguly

2008-04-23T08:45:00.000-07:00

March 29, 2006
Fm: Mrityunjay Bose

Greg-Ganguly spat enter boardroom

MUMBAI: The on-field rift with former Indian skipper 'Bengal Tiger' Sourav Ganguly and his 'guru' Greg Chappell has entered boardrooms. But, in a different manner. It has now become a sort of case study for future managers of India Inc.
The notorious spat is now a case study that the MBA students of the Mumbai-based SP Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR) are using to gain insights into factors affecting team performance in a business environment as part of their Organizational Behaviour course.
"We are trying to get the students to look at team performances from the point of view of factors such as personality differences, leadership styles and cultural differences," said Lata Dhir, professor of Organizational Behaviour at the Institute who developed the case along with her colleague Suresh Lalwani and students Pankaj Shetty and Praveen Sareen.
"The Indian Cricket Saga" – identifies the crossfire between the current Team India coach Chappell and southpaw Ganguly, which erupted during the Indian team's Zimbabwe tour in June 2005. With the essential focus on team performance, the case probes into factors like; locus of power, shifting team dynamics, emotional intelligence, adversity quotient, effect of the environmental through various stake-holders, etc. It emphasizes the interdependence of all these factors and their influence on team performance. The basic idea is to draw parallels from the sports arena to explain team performance in organizations.

The case was given to the batch of PGDM 2005-07 for classroom discussions in November 2005 and was received with fervor and enthusiasm. The participants were relating the issues emerging from the case to the various concepts of Organizational Behavior. Various points emerging from the discussions related to theories of different styles of leadership under different situations, preference of power bases by individuals, constructive conflict management, consistent team composition for effective team dynamics, influence of cultural changes and the rapidity of these changes, importance of emotional intelligence and association with the adversity quotient, and the external influencing factors like BCCI, the media, the political clout governing a game which is as passionate as cricket, in India. Amidst the presence of faculty members apart from the one leading the discussions, the discussion by the PGP participants took a crescendo, as they got deeply engrossed in the issues before culminating into the conceptual analysis.
The participants identified John Wright as a transformational leader who was sensitive to the needs of the players and showed patience in understanding the psyche of individual players and the team overall. On the contrary, participants agreed that Greg Chappell was more aggressive and came as a taskmaster. Ganguly was identified as a tough, intuitive and an emotional leader. When two authoritarian individuals work together there is bound to be a more than palpable friction. Participants felt that both were looking at their vested interests and did not focus on super-ordinate goals. Process parameters sharply drifted along diverse paths, though intuitively, it may appear that both wanted the long-term good of Indian cricket.

However, some believed that Chappell was being a 'Situational Leader'; he is responsible for preparing the team for the 2007 World Cup and does not have much time. Also, maybe Chappell is under pressure to prove his capability, as this is his first international coaching assignment. There is a possible aspirational need that Chappell had been nursing all these years. He has never been the coach of the Australian team. He wants to prove himself by strongly pitting the Indian team against the formidable Australians who are a huge threat towards any nations World Cup bid.
It was discussed that though Ganguly is the most successful Indian captain, his individual performance had been in doldrums of late. Points emerged to support the fact that the leader must perform up to the mark and set examples to lead the team towards effective performance. However, this was not the case with Ganguly. Also, questions were raised - 'How does the leader know when it is the right time to quit?' A leader must leave with humility rather be forced out of office. Some groups said that it is important for leaders to adapt with changing times and use different styles of leadership accordingly.

MiG engines can produce power

2008-04-23T08:44:00.000-07:00

April 25, 2006

MiG engines could be used to generate power

Even as several Indian states including Maharashtra are grappling with power crisis, scientists and technocrats are coming out with new ideas to produce electricity. The new concept is a blessing in disguise. This time it is the engines of old Russian-origin MiG aircraft. The large number of unused engines of Mig-21 and MiG-27 fighter jets -- which has been replaced by newer fighter jets -- could be used for this purpose thanks to the proposal of Indo-Russian Aviation Ltd (IRAL), a joint venture company of government-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL). Nearly a year ago at Ozhar near Nasik, the idea was deliberated at a workshop hosted by Nashik chapter of Institution of Engineers. Sources in Indo-Russian Aviation Company Ltd and Institution of Engineers confirmed this development. "In fact, the Russians have set up an experimental plant and the old engines which are not used now, could be of great help," sources said. MiG-21, the mainstay of the Indian Air Force (IAF) is often referred to as the 'Flying Coffins' because of the frequent crashes in recent times. They said that IAF had been using MiGs since the early sixties pointed out that there is a "large number" of aircraft, which are not used now. "The engines are lying idle and it could be used to produce electricity," they pointed out. "Today, there is power crisis. Why not use these engines to develop power, at least on an experimental basis. We can definitely have a technology demonstrator," they noted talking about his proposal. Their mathematics is quite simple: a MiG-21 engine could produce eight to 10 MW of power a day, while a MiG-27 engine – which produces more thrust – could give nearly 18 to 20 MW daily. "It is going to be an uninterrupted source of power supply," the sources said. And of course, no load-shedding – which is now a major issue in Maharashtra.
A nearly 10 MW engine, he points out, could light up a housing society of nearly 800 people. the sources explain, "A common household uses two to three fans and a same number of bulbs or tubelights, a TV set and a refrigerator. The daily consumption is nearly one to 1.5 KW. And one MW equals to 1,000 KW. Just imagine the untapped potential." When pointed out that jet engines run on Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF), which is quite costly,the sources point out, "It can run on ATF as well as compressed natural gas (popularly known as CNG)." The added advantage: no distribution losses and no transmission losses. The only critical area: it would need uninterrupted supply of gas to run the engines.

replica of shivaji's forts in poladpur

2008-04-23T06:34:00.000-07:00

March 14, 2008
Replica of Shivaji's forts coming up in Raigad
MRITYUNJAY BOSE

RAIGAD/MUMBAI: Replicas of forts of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, one of the greatest ever war strategists is coming up at Poladpur in Raigad district of Maharashtra thanks to the efforts of a group of adventurers. Once ready, it is going to be a major tourist attraction in the coastal Konkan region and for those who are interested in military history or the Maratha warrior's life.

Poladpur has historical significance as the memorial of Parmanand Nevaskar, the historian of Shivaji-era is located here. Parmanand had penned Shivbharat, considered one of the finest pieces of history. "The forts of Shivaji narrates a very rich history," says Prashant Bhutkar, the founder-member of Young Bloods Adventures, a Poladpur-based group, which is spearheading the movement on Shivaji's heritage.

Talking to The Herald from Poladpur, Bhutkar said that Shivaji had been associated with more than 150 forts across Maharashtra, however, they have selected around 15, which are being replicated. "We expect that it would cost nearly 15 lakh and it would be complete in a year's time," he said.

The forts that they have zeroed in are Pratapgarh, Panhala, Purandar, Shivneri, Raigad, Vijaydurg, Sinhgadh, Torna and a few others. "We will find from books that a major part of Shivaji's history revolves around these forts and hence these had been chosen," he said. The replicas would be of the ground size of 6x8 feet and 6x10 feet, while the height would be nearly three-and-a-half-feet.

Bhutkar said that they would be referring to books of aerial photography of Shiv Sena Executive President Uddhav Thackeray and noted photographer Gopal Bodhe. Both of them have clicked several aerial pictures of forts of Maharashtra. "We are also referring to several books on Shivaji Maharaj," he said.

"There is no such project in India or for that matter in the world, but we are taking a determined approach to complete the project," said Bhutkar, who himself had visited different forts of Shivaji, not once, but several times. Funds are a constraint, but people are helping in different ways. The replica would be made in cement.

For the project, they have acquired nearly 10 gunthas from the Poladpur Gram Panchayat near the memorial, Bhutkar, himself a tax consultant, said.

He also explains the relevance of the forts selected by his group for making replicas. The coronation ceremony of Shivaji was held in 1674 in the capital of the Kingdom of Marathas, Raigad. The Pratapgarh Fort was built during the reign of Shivaji in 1656 near the hill station of Mahabaleshwar atop a hill which offers a splendid view of the Raigad valley and the surrounding hills. It is where Afzal Khan was killed. The Sinhgadh fort commemorates the feats of Tanaji Malusare, a valiant Senapati in the Shivaji army. Shivaji was a great warrior, visionary and military genius. These qualities of the great Maratha Emperor are reflected in the design and construction of Sindhudurg Fort.

(This report was first published in The Maharashtra Herald-Pune)

Pune property to grow

2008-04-14T19:09:00.000-07:00

April 1, 2008
Pune property to appreciate by over 15 %: report
BY MRITYUNJAY BOSE

MUMBAI: With Pune emerging as a promising property market, the prices are expected to rise manifold in the forthcoming months. The demand for office space is expected to remain buoyant in the forthcoming months, with an expected appreciation of around 15 to 20 per cent in office rental values. Residential and retail prices, riding on the back of the active office sector, shall continue to attract investor interest and will witness a price appreciation of around 15 to 20 per cent and 25 to 30 per cent, respectively.

The latest report of Knight Frank Research points out that the major demand drivers have been the IT/ITES sector as well as the expanding automobile industry. The Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Fund (JNNURM) fund of Rs 270 crore is facilitating the infrastructure development in Pune. Three major flyovers have become operational along with the development of newer roads while a metro rail is being planned and a new airport is underway. "These initiatives will provide the requisite environment to support future real estate growth in the city," the international property researcher said in its latest report.

Besides, a new government legislation permits building to be built upto a height of 100 mts considering certain parameters. Consequently, Pune's skyline would be redefined with high rises in residential and office developments. Further, the recently repealed ULCA have released around 17,000 acres of land, mostly in peripheral locations, thereby auguring expectations of stabilizing the property rates in future.

The report points out that rental and capital values in the retail market in the city have been rising since 2005 and various newly developed real estate pockets have emerged as new retail destination. In the Western zone, Aundh has developed into a significant retail destination along with other residential and IT/ITES developments. Retail rental values have gone up by Rs 150/sq ft per month having a 40 per cent increased as compared to last year. In the Eastern zone, Nagar Road and Mundhawa-Kharadi bypass road are amongst the fast growing retail locations due to their proximity to various IT developments. This has led to an appreciation of 20 per cent in rental values to the present value of almost Rs 110/sq ft per month. In the Central zone, the rental values on Senapati Bapat Road have increased by around 40 per cent to Rs 180/sq ft per month owing to the presence of International Convention Centre.

A supply of 1.28 million sq ft has entered the Pune retail sector in 2007, while around 13 new malls totaling to 1.35 million sq ft of retail space is expected to enter the market by 2008. Key retail projects scheduled to be completed in 2008 are One Centre Port (200,000 sq ft) on Ganeshkind Road, Down Town (200,000 sq ft) at Erandwane, Gold Mall (313,095 sq ft) and Dolphin Mall (150,000 sq ft) at Hadapsar Road.

The Eastern and Western zones in Pune has seen the maximum real estate development over the past one year. Together with this, these regions witnessed strong leasing activity, thereby leading to reasonable appreciation in rental values for office space. Among projects on office sector, that became operational in 2007, note can be of TechPark on Airport Road, SP Infociti on Sholapur Road, Cybercity at Hadapsar and GigaSpace and Weikfield IT Park at Vimannagar. In 2008, approximately 7.02 million sq ft of office space is expected to enter the market of which the Eastern zone shall be responsible for 67 per cent of total supply. Some important projects to be completed in 2008 include Commerzone at Yeravada, Cerebrum at Kalyaninagar and Eternia at Wakdewadi.

On the residential front, the report points out that nearly 26.21 million sq ft of residential space has been added to the market in 2007, of which about 35 per cent each has been contributed by the Western and Eastern zones. Some of the prominent projects which were added to stock in 2007 are Sigma One Phase I in Kothrud, Kumar Presidency at Koregaon Park, Water Front and Fortaleza in Kalyaninagar. In 2008, 31.61 million sq ft of new residential supply is expected to enter the Pune market. However, of the total supply projected, some of the developments may get spilled over to 2009, on account of deliberate project delays in case of a slowdown in the market is perceived.

desalination is good for india

2008-04-14T06:39:00.000-07:00

DESALINATION TECHNOLOGY IS NEED OF THE HOUR

With the ever-increasing need for locate for potable sources of water, the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) has given extra thrust to the development of desalination technologies and technologies for better quality of life.

"India receives 4000 cubic billion metre of rainfall per year and 3000 billion cubic metre goes back to the sea", says a senior scientist of BARC. The annual water consumption in India is now about 750 billion cubic metres per year for all applications including agricultural, industrial, domestic and commercial usage. Assuming a conservative figure of per capita water consumption of 1000 cubic metres per year, the water availability in the country is likely to get fully stretched by the year 2010 unless replenishment is planned right now.

BARC has been engaged in R&D activities on desalination since the 1970s. The development activities in the field of desalination was initially based on thermal processes. Later, the programme for development of membrane processes was also included in the 1980s when it showed signs of commercial viability. Over a period of time, BARC has successfully developed desalination technologies based on multi-stage flash (MSF) evaporation, reverse osmosis (RO) and low temperature evaporation (LTE). In the field of thermal desalination, efforts are directed towards utilizing the low-grade heat and the waste heat as energy input for desalination. In membrane desalination, work is being carried out on newer pre-treatment methods such as the use of ultrafiltration, energy reduction and higher membrane life.

Based on these technologies, a number of desalination plants have been successfully demonstrated during the last few years. These include desalination plants for conversion of sea water into fresh potable water, providing safe drinking water in brackishness-affected areas and for process applications.

Based on decades of operational experience of MSF and RO plants at Trombay, BARC has initiated the Nuclear Desalination Demonstration Project (NDDP) at Kalpakkam in Tamilnadu.The NDDP consists of a hybrid MSF-RO desalination plant of 6300 cubic metres a day capacity. The requirements of seawater, steam and electrical power for the desalination plants are met from the Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS) I & II.
The already commissioned plant operates at relatively lower pressure to save energy, employs lesser pre-treatment because of relatively clean feed water from MAPS outflow and aims at longer membrane life resulting in lower water cost. The MSF plant which is in an advanced stage of completion is designed for higher top brine temperature with gain to output ratio (GOR) of 9:1 and utilizes less pumping power.

The desalination plant can meet the fresh water needs of around 45,000 persons. There is a provision of increasing the water capacity by employing appropriate technology to serve larger numbers of people. The overall water production cost for this plant is estimated to be 5 paise per litre. For large size plants it is likely to come down to about 4 paise per litre.

The waste heat of nuclear reactors has been used for setting up a 6300 cubic meter/day demonstration plant in Kalpakkam and a pilot plant has been coupled to CIRUS reactor. The RO part of the plant produces 1800 cubic metres/day. Safe drinking water was provided recently to the tsunami affected people in Tamil Nadu.In brackishness affected areas, small desalination plants have been set up producing 30,000 litres per day in villages of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan. Radioisotopes are also used in hydrology to study sediment transport at ports, flow measurements, seepage and ground water availability. Using radioisotope tracer techniques a major study of the sewage disposed into the sea at Colaba, Mumbai was conducted.

plug in cars are better

2008-04-14T06:37:00.000-07:00

Plug in cars better: WWF

MUMBAI: Increased use of plug-in electric and hybrid vehicles would be a way to a transport future that doesn't risk climate catastrophe, a major new World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) analysis has found.

The report also finds that the electric vehicles can be three times more efficient than hydrogen-fuelled vehicles. More importantly perhaps, electric vehicles can be widely introduced using existing technologies and distribution infrastructure. The WWF study released in Gland (Switzerland) and Brussels (Belgium) also finds that cleaner power generation and more use of renewable fuels in power generation will make it certain that the comparative efficiency and pollution advantages of plug-in transport will improve into the future, while the future of liquid fuels is one of increasing resort to dirtier sources that will take more energy to turn into fuels.
"Plug-in electric and hybrid vehicles also reduce the risk of conflict over less oil more and more concentrated in relatively unstable areas of the world," WWF-India said in a statement.

The study 'Plugged In: The End of the Oil Age'
considers the future of a transport sector now 95 per cent dependent on liquid hydrocarbon fuels and examines the impacts and practicalities of electric, coal-to-liquid, gas-to-liquid, natural gas and hydrogen powered transport for the future. It finds that vehicles running solely or partly on grid-connected electricity are more efficient and less greenhouse gas intensive than all alternatives, even with most power now being generated using fossil fuels.
"We should all be relying more on walking and biking, on buses and trains, to get to where we need to go. But cars will inevitably remain a major part of the transport equation," said James Leape, Director General of WWF International, according to the statement. "The cars of the future must be much more efficient -- smaller, lighter, more aerodynamic -- and they should, increasingly, be powered by electricity."

"Coal-to-liquid fuels are costly, energy intensive and extremely polluting, and have previously only been used on any significant scale in countries facing a state of emergency," the report's author Dr Gary Kendall was quoted saying in the statement.

"Automotive transport is ripe for transformation," said Dr Kendall. "We need to accelerate the commercialisation of vehicles with diversified primary energy sources, high efficiency and compatibility with a sustainable, renewable energy future. The electrification of automotive transport offers a promising way to achieve this objective." To do so, the report recommends dismantling market barriers to superior technologies and removing a host of hidden and overt subsidies to liquid fuel use.

Vehicles should be subject to similar energy labelling and efficiency improvement requirements as other energy-consuming appliances. Liquid-based measures of fuel economy (e.g. litres per 100km or miles per gallon) and CO2 emissions targets should be replaced with technology-neutral indicators of energy consumed per kilometre. "We cannot depend upon today's dominant transport solution providers to drive the shift away from liquid hydrocarbon fuels," Dr Kendall said. "Other business sectors – such as power utilities for instance – will come to the fore in recognizing the business opportunities of grid-connected transport. "But ultimately, leadership on moving to the best transport fuel mix will need to come from governments.

bar dancer+autobiography

2008-04-14T06:23:00.000-07:00

Bar girl's autobiography to be released

MUMBAI: Nearly three years after the Maharashtra Government banned the dance bars in the state, a book 'Bar-Bala' penned by a former bar dancer would be released on April 11 – in which she narrates the ups and downs of her life.

The writer, Vaishali Haldankar, now wants to become a lawyer and help victimized women. "It is the first-ever autobiography written by a bar singer or dancer anywhere in the world," according to Varsha Kale, the Honorary President of Bharatiya Bargirls' Union.

Kale has written the preface of the book which is published by Pune-based Mehta Publishing House.

Vaishali worked for about 16 years as singer in the various (around 80) liquor, orchestra and dance bars in Maharashtra and abroad. She has worked in all types of bars and her autobiography throw light on her experience of working as bar singer. One can also construct history of bars between 1989 and 2005 while reading personal story of Vaishali.

Unlike majority of the bargirls, Vaishali comes from Maharashtrian background and middle class. Her father and mother both were 'Sangeet Visharada'. Her father was honoured as 'Pandit' and used to run music school situated in a prime locality of Dadar.

Twist came in her life with her sexual abuse by neighbour during her childhood. She got married at the age of 14 and gave birth to two children at very early age. This marriage and subsequent events took her to slums and eventually to bars. Her life in bars led her into different relationships with customers and colleagues and broke her marriage in the process.

However, break-up of her serious relationship with one notorious gangster, who was also her customer, brought another twist in her life. Emotionally she always found herself in conflict with money and social status. This conflict and her broken relationship led her to search and she found solace in Osho Ashram of Rajneesh. While she continued singing in the bars, she also became Sanyasi of Osho. However, this new identity did not bring any change in her stigmatised status as a 'barwali'. She continued to be victim of sexual abuse and rapes. Her alcoholism increased and duality in her life created turmoil in her relationship with her children, who were now adult men.

Vaishali came in the contact of Varsha Kale while she was organising bargirls union. Varsha Kale found her story unique and interesting and she was pursuing Vaishali to write it down. She agreed to write after two years of persuasion. Writing her own story in itself was important process and it brought huge change in Vaishali. Now Vaishali has left bars and she has taken to education.

nda turns 60

2008-04-13T18:34:00.000-07:00

From: Mrityunjay Bose
After returning from Khadakwasla
NDA@ 60 years

"Our great nation can advance only if we are united. Our Army, our Navy, our Air Force draw their men from all parts of the country and are a symbol of unity and homogeneity, I wish all could imbibe that spirit."

These were the words of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, at the first Passing-out-Parade of the National Defence Academy (NDA) which he termed as a "Monument in the Making".

Nestled in the picturesque Sahyadri ranges of Maharashtra, the NDA located in Khadakwasla near Pune, has turned out to be one of the finest military training centres of the world. The records speak for itself: as many as 30,000 of NDA's alumni had joined the armed forces and it includes nearly 1,600 cadets from friendly foreign countries. The NDA, popularly known as 'Cradle of Military Leadership', has lived up to the true spirit of its motto – 'seva parmo dharma' (service before self).

Interestingly, the Sinhgadh fort is visible to the cadets from the NDA, spread over several acres of land. The young boys also draw inspiration from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, one of the greatest-ever military strategists.

"It trains the young boys into military leaders who have time and again proved their caliber in the service to the nation," says Air Marshal T S Randhava, Commandant of NDA. Over the years, it has only grown and the academy will turn 60 on January 16, 2009. The diamond jubilee year is truly important for India's military strategists and cadets alike.

"The alumni of this institution constitute the core of leadership of the Indian Armed Forces. The intrepid cadets of yesteryears have not only proved their mettle as military leaders in combat but also blazed a trail of glory in several other fields across the national firmament. NDA today symbolizes excellence in every pursuit. The tidy acre of its vast estate reflects the highest standards that the institution has embraced as the foundation and core of its beliefs. Of what it is, and what it aspires to be, all of us, you, I and indeed all our countrymen can be proud of," points out Air Marshal Randhava.

Ex-cadets of NDA who had passed out has reached heights of all arena – be it in sailing, sports, mountaineering, crossing deserts, reaching poles, riding or reaching space. Some had even marveled in politics. This sums up the achievements of the academy. The achievers list is long – it has received three Param Vir Chakras, the highest gallantry award.

The selection process too is that tough. Nearly three lakh appear for the examinations, and about 300 make it to the academy every six months. While end-December, nearly 250 cadets join; end-June nearly 350 cadets make it. "We get an average of 300 cadets every six months," says Air Marshal Randhava. However, now given the shortfall of officers in the armed forces by over 10,000, there are plans to increase intake by 120 cadets. The proposal is currently with the government. As regards the cost of training, the government incurs Rs 7,075 per cadets per week and the course runs for three years. From here they branch out to the three services and get their commission.

The history behind the setting up of the NDA too is unique. Nehru laid the foundation stone on October 6, 1949; however, it was Morarji Desai who inaugurated. On December 16, 1978, it received the President's colours – yet another laurel. As regards, selection of Pune to house the academy is concerned, a major thought process has gone into it. When the idea of the NDA was conceived, the major contenders were Marve in Mumbai (then Bombay), Karachi (now in Pakistan), Poona (now Pune), Bangalore (now Bengalaru), Lahore (now in Pakistan), Dehradun, Bengaum, Bhopal, Jabalpur, Deolali (in Nashik), Puri and Secunderabad.

However, Pune won the chance! The factors that went for it were nearness to sea, proximity to airfield, vicinity of military establishments and a temperate climate. And also intense lobbying and frenetic political heat. The estimated capital cost was Rs 6.5 crore – a sum that one may not believe today, for such a temple of excellence.

The training pattern too is unique: After joining the NDA following their 10+2 Examination, the cadets are trained in the academy for three years culminating into graduation in B.A/B.Sc. or B. Sc. (Computer Science) degree of Jawaharlal Nehru University. Apart from academic training they are also trained in outdoor skills, like Drill, PT and games. The emphasis in NDA is on character building, esprit-de-corps, mental and physical robustness, leadership and a sense of keen observation. The academic year is divided into two terms, viz. Spring Term (January to May) and Autumn Term (July to December). Here a cadet has to undergo training for a total of six terms before he passes out from NDA.

This visiting 'The Herald' correspondent also spoke to a large number of instructors and cadets while on a day-long visit. "The knowledge that the cadets get here, is comprehensive," says Major Pratap Singh, NDA's Public Relations Officer.
"I wanted to join the Army, basically I am from a Sainik School. I can't give any specific reason, but just that I love the Army, wanted to join, and made it," says a cadet, who would pass next year. While a majority of them would make into the Army, there are others who live to fly or venture into ocean. "Definitely, life is tough, but it is the way of life," says a young lad as he comes out after a flying sortie on his Super Dimona. On the other hand, the majestic lake at Peacock Bay attracts them – they are the men who will venture into the oceans. "Sea attracts me," points out a cadet.

advani-book

2008-03-28T04:09:00.000-07:00

Kargil War was decisive victory: Advani

BY MRITYUNJAY BOSE

Describing the Kargil War as a "decisive victory" for India on military and diplomatic front, former Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani lashes out at the Congress posing a series of uncomfortable questions for the latter to handle.

However, he admitted that the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee did not implement one of the recommendations of the Kargil Review Committee – which had called for bifurcation of two posts held by Brajesh Mishra – that of full-time National Security Advisor and Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister.

"Victory in the Kargil War was one of the finest hours in the annals of India's armed forces," Advani, currently Leader of Opposition and BJP-led NDA's PM-candidate, wrote in his memoirs – 'My Country, My Life'.

However, in the criticism of the Sonia Gandhi-led Congress, Advani, who was also country's Home Minister during the NDA regime, said: "My party had consistently maintained that India's victory in the Kargil War was a national accomplishment that transcended political barriers. After India's triumph in the 1971 war with Pakistan, which led to the liberation of Bangladesh, the Jana Sangh had demonstrated its readiness to rise above political considerations by profusely congratulating the government of the day, led by Indira Gandhi. Unfortunately, the Congress reaction, both during and in the immediate aftermath of the Kargil War, was diametrically different. It did not have the magnanimity to appreciate a national success achieved during the rule of a BJP-led government."

Recalling the sequence of events of Kargil intrusion, he points out that in the second week of May (1999), the PM called him and a few other senior ministers for an informal meeting to discuss 'some urgent matter'. The Army has informed him about some strange movement of unidentified people crossing the LoC in Kargil district in the Ladakh region of J&K. It being high altitude and rugged region with sparse population, the intrusions were first detected, quite accidently, by local shepherds on May 3, who were occasional informers of the Army in the Batalik sector. The infiltrators were heavily armed and had entrenched themselves in the heights of 16,000-18,000 ft along a 150-km stretch highway that lay below.

Consequently, Defence Minister George Fernandes visited the area on May 12-14. On May 26, the Indian Army launched counter offensive, which was named 'Operation Vijay'.
Consequently, Vajpayee also spoke to his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif – the latter held General Pervez Musharraf responsible.

The objective of Pakistan, he points out in his book, were manifold: (1) to choke the Srinagar-Leh highway, since it was the main supply line for Indian troops in Ladakh, (2) for force Indian troops to withdraw from the Siachin Glacier, (3) to use the crisis to strengthen its own bargaining position so that India could be compelled to negotiate a settlement of the Kashmir dispute on favourable terms, (4) Kargil War to further incident militancy in J&K, and (5) to internationalise the Kashmir issue, projecting Kargil as a potential trigger for nuclear showdown.

Elaborating on the Kargil operations, he said that the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) had a clear brief for the Indian Air Force – 'Do not cross the LoC'. "With a combined and concerted affect of infantry and air attacks, India quickly neutralized Pakistan's initial gains. With the tables turned on them, it was now turn of the Pakistani troops' to be totally surprised," he wrote. Finally, after 74 days, 'Operation Vijay' became 'vijayi' (triumphant) on July 26, which is celebrated as Kargil Victory Day.

Praising the leadership of Vajpayee, he wrote: "Atalji's leadership during the Kargil episode was outstanding. Never once did he seem ruffled by the unexpected turn of events…….his greatest triumph was that in the Kargil War, in contrast to the four previous wars fought under the leadership of Congress PMs – 1948, 1962, 1965 and 1971 – not one inch of Indian territory was either lost in the battlefield or 'negotiated away' in the diplomatic field.'

Touching upon the diplomatic arena, he pointed out: "Diplomacy, it is sid, is a continuation of war by other means. This may not be true in every situation. But it certainly was in the case of Kargil War. If India's jawans were at their heroic best on the battlefield, our Foreign Service professionals were at their best at diplomatic arena."

He recalled how on June 11, Minister of State for External Affairs Jaswant Singh addressed a press conference on the event of his Pakistani counterpart Sartaj Aziz and released two recorded conversations (of May 26 and 29) between Gen Musharaff (now Pakistani President) and his Chief of General Staff Lt Gen Mohammed Aziz. The first conversation made it clear that Pakistan's Foreign Secretary Shamshad Ahmed had been briefed about the Kargil conflict, along with the Corps Commanders. In the second conversation, Musharraf explicitly stated Pakistan's war objectives, preceding any diplomatic engagement with India.

Now he states what was made clear to Pakistan on June 12 – (1) immediate vacation of the aggression, (2) reaffirmation of the validity of LoC, (3) abandoning cross-border terrorism, (4) dismantling the infrastructure of terrorism in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and (5) reaffirmation of the Shimla Agreement and the Lahore Declaration. "India's mission did a splendid job of presenting before foreign governments a convincing case of Pakistan's aggression in Kargil," he writes.

India's voluntary decision of not crossing LoC was applauded – and, by extension, India's stand on resolution of Kashmir issue was supported by the US, the European Union, G8 nations and the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum. Even China refused to come to Pakistan's rescue during the Kargil War. Benazir Bhutto, the late Prime Minister and President of Pakistan People's Party described Kargil as 'Pakistan's biggest blunder'. On October 12, Gen Musharraf ousted Sharif in a coup.

Advani goes on to add that on February 23, 2000, Fernandes tabled the report of the four-member Kargil Review Committee chaired by noted defence analyst K Subrahmanyam. The committee had held over 100 meetings. He points out that most of the recommendations of the committee were implemented.

However, he points out one of the few recommendations not accepted was regarding the National Security Council, which had been set up by the Vajpayee government in April 1999 – was having a separate National Security Advisor and Principal Secretary to the PM. "Many senior ministers in the government and I felt that there was much merit in this suggestion. We repeatedly urged the Prime Minister to bifurcate the two posts held by Brajesh Mishra. Atalji, however, had a different view and did not implement this recommendation. It was of course, the PM's prerogative to do so. In my view, the clubbing together of two critical responsibilities, each requiring focused attention, did not contribute to harmony at the highest levels of governance."

POSERS TO CONGRESS

** Have they done any introspection over Prime Minister (Pandit Jawaharlal) Nehru's handling of the Kashmir issue during the first Indo-Pak war in 1947-48? He unilaterally declared ceasefire on January 1, 1949, when our armed forces were chasing the invaders to a point where India could have recovered the entire occupied of Jammu & Kashmir. Did Nehru take Parliament or our countrymen into confidence before 'gifting' away 83,100 sq kms of our territory to Pakistan? Did he evolve a national consensus – or even a consensus within his own Cabinet – before needlessly referring Kashmir issue to the United Nations?

** After India's debacle in the Chinese aggression in 1962, the Congress party issued a circular that termed anyone as traitors who 'are not being respectful enough, helpful enough and prayerful enough towards Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. It is wrong to permit Opposition parties to take advantage of the emergency fro throwing mud against the Congress'. Veteran Swatantra Party MP, Prof N G Ranga, cited this circular during the Lok Sabha debate on the Defence of India Bill in 1962. Can they deny this?

** Will they explain why the Henderson Brooks report, which did an operations review of India's defeat in the 1962 war, has not been de-classified even after the passage of 45 years? It is because the authors of this official report, two officers of the Indian armed forces Lt Gen Henderson Brooks and Brig P S Bhagat, commandant of Indian Military Academy, were believed to be critical of the leadership of Prime Minister Nehru and Defence Minister V K Krishna Menon?

** Will they explain to the nation why the Congress government timidly returned Haji Pir, which had been recovered by the Indian Army in the 1965 war, to aggressor Pakistan at the negotiating table in Tashkent in January 1966?

** Will they tell the nation why Indira Gandhi did not try for a full and final settlement of the Kashmir issue after India's decisive victory over Pakistan in the 1971 war, especially when he had as many as 93,000 Pakistani POWs in our custody?

** Above all, can we recall whether the international community supported India's stand on the Kashmir issue as widely and strongly at any time before the Kargil War.

(This report was first published in The Maharashtra Herald-Pune)

dons not tough nuts to crack

2008-02-28T07:48:00.000-08:00

Nov 24, 2005

Dons are not tough nuts to crack

BY MRITYUNJAY BOSE

MUMBAI: Name a don and its chills the spine of many. But dons actuallyare not tough nuts to crack. The issue of interrogation and torturehas come into focus once again with extradited underworld don and 1993serial blast accused Abu Salem expressing apprehensions that theMumbai Police may torture him in their custody.

"Yeh saab log chuha (rats) hai….bahut darte hai," a senior servingIPS officer, who has tackled the menace of organised crime told theHerald yesterday. "Marne ki zarurat hi nahi padti. One slap is enoughto make dons speak. They not only speak they startsinging…third-degree ka to sawal hi nahin utha," the high-profileofficer -- whose character was essayed in a film -- said wishinganonymity.

The reasons are one too many: these mafia dons have most of the timesescaped the police barring for some cases – when they are arrested forpetty crime. "Most of the times they are in AC comforts, luxuriouscars, clothes that are fashion statement and expensive watches, ringsand sun-glasses," he said and added that they are not aware of theground realities.

Asked about the apprehensions made by Salem that he fears torture byMumbai Police, the officer said: "Yeh saab bolne ki baat hai. Theseare also fed by defence lawyers asking them to say in court."Moreover, he pointed out that there is mandatory health check-up every48 hours as per Supreme Court guideline. In Salem's case, he pointedout that the court has allowed his lawyers to meet him in the morningfor every 15 minutes. Even while in CBI custody, he was allowed legalinterview every alternate day.

Former Mumbai Joint Commissioner Y C Pawar, who is credited withcracking the backbone of Vardabhai gang, said: "Interrogation is allabout skills and tactics." He recalled that in a robbery case – hesought the custody of two accused – who were already in judicialcustody in some other case. "The court allowed us to interrogate themfrom 11 am to 5 pm. We were prepared and we did our homework. In 21days, we solved a robbery case, which was a major one in the earlyseventies," Pawar told the Herald when contacted.

In fact, officers are trained in crime detection. "With minimum efforts (read force) one should be able to extract themaximum," another officer said.

Former Mumbai Police chief M N Singh said that investigation iscombination of "art and science".

As far as high-profile "VVIP criminals" are concerned, says formerIPS officer-turned-legal expert Y P Singh, there is unlikely thatforce is used. "Abu Salem case has attracted too much media attention.In such cases, force would not be used as the cops are extra careful,"he said.

Giving a legal perspective, he said: "Confession haveto be voluntarily. One cannot use force." But an IPS officer said thatin high-profile cases, the methods are simple: don't allow an accusedto sleep – he will start speaking the truth. In white-collar crimes, Singh said: "Everything is in black andwhite. You have to study the documents and ask questions. It is simple, but lot of homework, study and backgrounding is required."Another form is to give them repeated questionnaire, another officersuggested. Sums up an officer: "When we were taught officering, wewere taught about patience. And it work wonders."

(This report first appeared in The Maharashtra Herald, Pune)

telgi's story

2008-02-28T07:46:00.000-08:00

Telgi's rise and fall
June 29, 2007

MRITYUNJAY BOSE

For Abdul Karim Laadsaab Telgi, it may be the proverbial rags to riches story, but his mercurial rise in the murky and shady world had been cut short by the Indian prosecution and judicial system. Today, the 47-year-old Telgi, who suffers from a life-threatening disease, is languishing in jail – not in one case, but in several cases.

He worked up the ladder – but has always been on the wrong side of the law. Born in 1961, Telgi was a street smart by and is proficient in Hindi, English, Kannada, Marathi, Urdu and Telgu.

Born in Karnataka's Bijapur district, he hailed from Telgi village and hence his surname. He started his education in Telgi, but later shifted to Belgaum. His father was a railway employee and the family had gone through difficult times. After his father died, the responsibility of the family fell on him. He passed his matriculation, however, to support his family, he used to sell fruits at the Khanapur railway station. He simultaneously completed his graduation in commerce stream.

Aim to earn fast bucks brought him to Mumbai, however, with great difficulty he mustered courage and money and rented a shop at Crawford Market and started a travel agency and started supplying manpower overseas. During this period, he also traveled to several Gulf countries and started minting money. But in the meanwhile, in 1991, he was arrested in a case of forgery and had to visit jail few times – and during one of these occasions he met Ramratan Soni, who ultimately became his guru.

Soni was a share broker and was arrested in connection of forging share documents – and from him only Telgi learnt the art of forging judicial and non-judicial stamp papers. Subsequently, he also started working as a manager in a guesthouse and here he met Sahida Begum, who he later married. As far as his racket was concerned, he first started removing the ink from old stamp papers and selling again, but since the margins was less, he come out with the idea of producing stamp papers itself.

He eyed on Nashik-based India Security Press and purchased an old printing machine as a scrap. In laymen's terms, except for currency notes, all other legal tenders like postal stamps, revenue stamps, judicial and non-judicial papers and share transfer papers were printed here. When he purchased the machine, he also laid hands on some blocks as well. He started printing all these and even employed marketing agents and executives. He also sold stamps to banks and financial institutions. He also allegedly established contacts with underworld elements.

While he minted money, he also spent lavishly. Television journalist Sanjay Singh, who exposed the Telgi scandal, in his book 'Telgi Scam: Reporter ki Dairy' has mention that in 1996 in a famous dance bar in Mumbai, he spent nearly Rs 80 lakh on a dancer named Muskan. He also brought a haveli for her in Rajasthan.

Telgi's empire on fake stamp papers are spread across at least 11 states including Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Delhi, Goa, Bihar and so on and this went on for nearly three to four years undetected. According to estimates, the racket ran into nearly Rs 32,000 crore – thereby giving a blow to the Indian economy itself – with his parallel system.

He also invested in television and films, investigations have revealed. From jail also, he used to run his empire. Of the cases detected, the biggest was the Bung Garden case, in which the police recovered nearly Rs 2,200 crore stamp papers. The final blow to him came from SIT-Maharashtra and STAMPIT-Karnataka, which went deep into the case. During the course of investigations, he also named some politicians as part of the racket.

mahatma gandhi-book-killing

2008-02-28T07:40:00.000-08:00

Gandhi's assassins loved spy books
BY MRITYUNJAY BOSE

MUMBAI: That Mahatma Gandhi's assassins loved detective novels is a little known fact. A book on the plot to kill the Father of the Nation unravels different aspect of the psyche of the two main conspirators – Nathuram Godse and Narayan Apte.

The book 'The Men Who Killed Gandhi' penned by Manohar Malgonkar – which also contains several unpublished documents and photographs, puts the whole story together that led to the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi on January 30, 1948.

"Nathuram Godse was an avid reader of detective novels, his favourite author being Erle Stanley Gardner. Apte, on the other hand, showed a marked preference for Agatha Christie. But their familiarity with crime in fiction had taught them nothing of the ways of criminals in real life. To the end, they remained rank amateurs, shockingly incompetent in almost everything they did. Nathuram even kept an account book in which he meticulously put down all the sums of money they paid to their accomplices. Instead of trying to cover their tracks, they seemed if anything to go to special trouble to leave a well-blazed trail," Malgonkar writes in the book re-printed recently.

The book also dwells on what had been the last words of Gandhiji – after Godse pumped in bullets on the Apostle of Peace.

Writes Malgonkar: "No one noticed whether Gandhi's face bore a smile as he faced his assailant. But Gurbchan Singh, a Sikh businessman from Panipat, who was a devotee of Gandhi and who was only a few steps behind him as he fell, deposed that Gandhi's last words were 'Hai Rama!' (Vishnu) Karkare, on the other hand, who stood within a few feet of Gandhi and saw him as bullets struck him swore to the author that all Gandhi uttered was a cry of pain, a guttural rasp, 'Aaaah!"

However, he reasons: "It is, of course, possible that both are wrong, and that what they heard, or say they heard, was conditioned by the one man's veneration for Gandhi and the other man's contempt. Then again it is possible that both are right, and the invocation 'Hai Rama' uttered with his last breath may have sounded to Karkare like a cry of pain."

On the attack on January 20, the books says that after Madanlal Pahwa, a refugee of Pakistan, was arrested, he clearly said 'Phir Ayega' (They will come again) – however, police failed to prevent the assassination.

On this attempt what Gandhi had to say was interesting. "The boy is bahadur (brave warior)….bacche hain, abhi yeh samajhte nahin. Maroonga tab yaad karange, ke boodha theek kehta tha (They are like children. They don't understand. After I am gone, they will realize that what the old man used to say was right)."

The book also traces the history of the 9-mm Beretta that was used to kill Gandhi. "The Beretta had traveled halfway across the world to serve its fateful destiny. Manufactured in Italy in 1934, it had been taken to Abyssinia by one of Mussolini's officers. From him it was 'liberated' by an officer of the 4th Gwalior Infantry, which regiment had been sent to Abyssinia as part of the force, which accepted the surrender of Italians. But since the battalion's return to Gwalior the pistol changed hand several times.

Interesting records published in the book include copies of the Air-India tickets used by Godse and Apte to make the trip from Bombay to Delhi and back for the assassination and even their bills at Hotel Marina in Connaught Place where they stayed while carrying out their mission. It also carries an extensive timeline between 1948-1949 – from the time the conspiracy is hatched till the judgement in the case. It also mention with dates and time how they shuttled between Poona (now Pune), Bombay (now Mumbai) and Delhi – and also shows pictures of buildings where they stayed or went to.

(This report was first published in The Maharashtra Herald, Pune)

mahatma gandhi-autobiography

2008-02-26T23:22:00.000-08:00

January 30, 2007
From: Mrityunjay Bose

Gandhiji's autobiography still attracts rich and poor

MUMBAI: Sixty years after his death, Mahatma Gandhi's 'The Story of My Experiments with Truth' is still catching young and old, rich and poor and till date nearly 40 lakh copies have been sold – which in itself is a record.

"It is a bestseller by all means. Till December last year more than 35.52 lakh copies had been sold," says veteran Gandhian TRK Somaiya of Gandhi Book Centre and Mumbai Sarvodaya Mandal. "The message in the autobiography is unique," he said pointing out that at the annual exhibition of books on Gandhiji held at Hutatma Chowk, it is still attracting crowd and on Tuesday several hundred copies had been sold.

The 'My Experiments with Truth' – as the book is also known is originally published by Ahmedabad-based Navajivan Trust and nearly 35 lakh copies of it has been sold, besides some lakhs in foreign languages.

The autobiography is available in English, Hindi, Urdu, Gujarati, Bengali, Marathi, Malayalam, Kannada, Telegu, Asamese, Tamil and Oriya. Besides English, the other foreign languages in which it has been published are French, German, Spanish, Italian, Korean and Japanese.

"At a time when the country is ridden with violence, corruption and deceit, it would surprise many to know that Gandhiji's autobiography, which gives the message of truth, non-violence and peace is amongst the books in top seller list. And the demand is increasing day by day," Somaiya told 'The Herald'.

Although the book did not have a great demand in the initial years of its publication the demand went up in 1984 after the release of Richard Attenborough's film, Gandhi.

Somaiya started selling the copies of the book outside cinema houses those days. When the demand for the book started going up, he set up the Gandhi Book Centre. Today the centre has 190 titles on Gandhiji in different languages. There are 350 translated books. The demand for these books had gone down for a while.

But the sale went up after the release of the film 'Lage Raho Munnabhai', which spoke about Gandhian thoughts, said Somaiya.

This year, 35,000 students from 173 schools and colleges voluntarily appeared for the Gandhi Peace Exam based on the Gandhi's autobiography.

Several inmates of various jails in Mumbai are drawing inspiration from Satyache Prayog. Laxman Gole, an inmate of the Nashik jail, confessed to his crimes, before the court, after reading the book. He has also vowed to follow the Gandhian path of truth and non-violence.

Sarvodaya Mandal has, over a period of five years, distributed 2,500 copies of Gandhiji's autobiography in various jails in Maharashtra. Nobody is forced to read this book. The inmates are first shown Richard Attenborough's Gandhi, Lage Raho Munnabhai and Do Aankhe Bara Hath. Somaiya stated that a large number of inmates of the jails have expressed their desire to read Gandhiji's autobiography after seeing these films.

Nineteen new books in English, Marathi and Gujarati have been published in the last two years. Among these books are Mohanmaya by Ramdas Bhatkal, Gandhi, Gita and Gitai by Prof Vilas Patil; Dhulitoon Dhurandar is a Marathi translation of Narayan Desai's book entitled GAndhi GAnga, a collection of articles by eminent writers on Gandhiji. The translation is done by Vishwas Patil. All these books are in great demand.

Points out Somaiya: "A legislator from Tamil Nadu was given a unique sentence by a Madurai court. He has been ordered to visit the Gandhi Museum for five days and to read Gandhiji's autobiography and other books on him. The court felt that there would be a change in the MLA's attitude after reading the book."

smokers-study

2008-02-21T02:42:00.001-08:00

Women find smokers unattractive: Survey
Mrityunjay Bose
20 February , 2008

Mumbai: Three out of four youngsters are not interested in marrying a smoker. Nearly nine out of ten girls said that they did not find smokers or tobacco users attractive and almost half the youngsters interviewed said that they are never comfortable in the company of smokers.
'Every child has the right to a tobacco-free childhood' is the cry of the times. Salaam Bombay Foundation, the NGO involved in creating awareness on the ill-effects of tobacco and working to give children a healthy tobacco-free future released the results of its research conducted by Ormax Consultants, a leading qualitative market research company at the Kala Ghoda festival this year.
The results of the dipstick study on the "Attitude of the youth on smoking and tobacco usage amongst themselves and their partners" revealed that 8 out of 10 girls surveyed did not find a smoker attractive and 67% girls would not date a smoker. "I'm not at all surprised at the results of this survey", says actress Suchitra Pillai: "A lot of my women friends give dirty looks or show their irritation when a man lights up near them."
Why would 75% women not want to marry a smoker? Namrata Baruwa Shroff, a model turned architect says many of her own friends find it difficult to lead their life with a smoker husband. "It causes a very unhealthy environment at home. I'm fortunate I fell in love with and married a non-smoker," she says.
47% of the youth clearly stated they want to be in a smoke-free environment only and were never comfortable with having a smoker near them. Shamita Singha, a model and television host states. "We all love smoke-free environments. Ciggie smoke or breadth can be disgusting for a non-smoker. And it's only fair that you don't force people to be passive smokers."
On the reason why youngsters take to this deadly habit 46.4% attributed it to peer pressure. 30.4% stated that the biggest reason for smoking was to combat stress and tension. Ace hairstylist Coleen Khan Affonso spoke about the indifference which the 18-20 years group had to the dangers caused by smoking: "Many in the age group 18-20 take to it due to peer influence and unfortunately only later do they realize the immense harm it causes—to one's skin, hair and overall health."
Devika Chaddha, Project Director, Salaam Bombay Foundation says: "Since 2002 Salaam Bombay has been working extensively with young people. We wanted to know more about the perceptions that youngsters had on tobacco users. The fact, that so many women feel smoking is uncool, or finds a smoker repulsive should be an eye-opener for both active and vulnerable smokers."
The research was conducted at the Kala Ghoda Festival, Mumbai between 3rd February and 10th February, 2008 and over 791 youngsters (524 males and 264 females) in the age group 18 to 25 years participated in the survey.

new lizard found-satara

2008-02-12T23:18:00.000-08:00

New species of lizard found in Satara
BY MRITYUNJAY BOSE

MUMBAI: In a major achievement for nature lovers, a new species of lizard was found in the Western Ghats of Maharashtra's Satara district. The distinctive new species of ground-dwelling lizard (gecko) of the genus Hemidactylus is described from the plateaus of the Satara district, the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) said.

It is a member of a group of chiefly terrestrial Indian Hemidactylus species that have undivided, or only partly divided subdigital lamellae. This new species has been discovered by Mr. Varad B. Giri of the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), Mumbai and Dr Aaron M. Bauer of Villanova University, USA. Their paper was published in the Journal "Zootaxa" in February 2008, the BNHS said.

At present this species is only known from the type locality, which lies in the south-central part of the Western Ghats of Maharashtra. This region is unique in the presence of large laterite or basaltic plateaus on the crests of mountains. Mostly semi-evergreen forest characterises the valley vegetation. Most of the plateaus support sparse vegetation, which is mostly evident in monsoon and in summer they look barren. Apart from their unique ecological features, these plateaus have a unique floral and faunal diversity.

The northern Western Ghats, especially the parts in Maharashtra, are relatively unexplored and there is little information regarding the amphibians and reptiles of this region. In the last four years three new species of amphibians have been discovered from Maharashtra.

All these new discoveries were the result of localised surveys with moderate search efforts. With intensive and systematic surveys it will be possible to further increase our knowledge of reptiles of the northern Western Ghats. In Maharashtra, there are excellent examples of the highly diverse and intact Western Ghats forests, but in the Satara district the forest is more fragmented and is increasingly degraded by human exploitation. Though herpetologically unexplored, the occurrence of a new ground dwelling Hemidactylus highlights the uniqueness of this region. As this area has large expanses of plateaus, efforts are now being made to confirm the occurrence of this species from other likely areas.

dolphins sighted in Punjab

2008-02-04T23:52:00.000-08:00

Rare Indus dolphins spotted

Jan 16, 2008

MUMBAI: The rediscovery and sighting of the highly endangered Indus dolphin, Platanista minor at Harike Wildlife Sanctuary in Punjab recently has enthused WWF-India which has recommended a detailed long-term action plan for the protection of the species.

The endangered mammals were first sighted and reported by Basanta Rajkumar, Divisional Forest Officer and sanctuary in charge, during a routine visit of the sanctuary in early December 2007. After the report of the officer, the Forest Department approached the WWF-India to confirm this rare sighting, WWF-India officials said here.

A team of WWF-India officials led by Dr Sandeep Behera, Dolphin Coordinator at the WWF-India under the wetland programme and Dr. Asghar Nawab, expert on aquatic mammals, travelled to the Harike sanctuary and conducted extensive surveys with the support of the Forest Department staff. After three days of extensive river-patrolling in chilly northern Indian winter, the report was confirmed: "Beas-Sutlej River system has Dolphins".

Dr Behera speaking about the dolphin sighting said, "Although the physical appearance of the dolphins sighted looks like the Indus River Dolphin, confirmation of this species can only be validated after detailed study and investigation. This may be the Indus dolphin found in Pakistan or a sub-species of it."

River Dolphins swim in some of the world's mightiest rivers, including the Ganges, Indus, Yangtse and the Amazon. But these river basins are also home to over 15 percent of the world's population and include some of the most densely populated and poorest areas on the earth. Human perturbations and anthropogenic disturbances have led to drastic declines in dolphin populations over much of their distribution images during the last several decades. Several Asian species are now amongst the most endangered of all mammals.

(This report first appeared in The Maharashtra Herald)

chandrapur-mines

2008-01-25T01:33:00.000-08:00

Warriors of the Earth

MRITYUNJAY BOSE

They are the ‘Warriors of the Earth’ – the coal miners. Coal being the prime mover of the industry - these unsung heroes plays a major role in the economy risking their lives deep inside the Earth 24x7x365. When we compare mining vis-à-vis Maharashtra, the Chandrapur district in Vidarbha region is known as the ‘City of Black Gold’ – the sobriquet aptly suggests of collieries.

With only layman’s idea about mining, I visited deep inside the Earth at Chandrapur to know more about mining. “The Vidarbha Valley belt has rich coal reserves,” says A R S Reddy, Manager of Hindustan Lalpeth Colliery No 1, an entity of Western Coalfields Ltd (WCL) as he comes out from a mine along with S Ansari, chief of WCL’s Internal Safety Organisation after inspecting the mine for several hours. Mines and safety go side by side – and India is today the third largest producer of coal in the world.

When it comes to basic of mining, there are two types of mine – the “open cast” a “shaft” mine. The basic difference being – the open cast mine is like a huge bowl on the Earth where one keeps on digging and extracting coal and in the shaft mine – one drills into the underground and then takes the coal out. But in both the cases the process is not easy and it takes lot of efforts to get the coal. “More than 50 per cent of power demand is met by coal and in case there is no coal, it will be difficult for an economy to run,” says Sudhir Bhaisare of WCL’s Hindustan Lalpeth Colliery – before his collegue Sanjay Virmalwar guides me nearly 50 metres below the surface to actually see the mining experience!

One may counter the efficiency of coal with the aspect of pollution, but coal in India remains the biggest energy provider. “The industrial heritage of the country has been based on coal,” points out Virmalwar – as he accompanies me to the coalmine. “The thermal power plants neighbouring the coalmines shows how important coal is for us,” points out Poonam Tiwari, a WCL employee, who accompanied me to the Hindusthan Lalpeth and Durgapur open-cast mine.

“Life is not easy, it is full of risk, but challenging, we love it,” says Virmalwar, with a sense of pride. He guides me and fellow-journalist Om Prakash Tiwari inside the mine from a “lift” when takes you to different levels below the surface.

WCL, the Nagpur-headquartered PSU, has several miles under its control in the Vidarbha region. The Company contributes about 11.3% of the national coal production. It has mining operation spread over the states of Maharashtra (in Nagpur, Chandrapur and Yavatmal districts) and Madhya Pradesh (in Betul and Chhindawara districts). WCL is a major source of supplies of coal to the industries located in Western India in the States of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and also in Southern India in the States of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala. A large numbers of power houses under Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujrat, Karnataka, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh - electricity boards are major consumers of its coal along with cement, steel, chemical, fertilizer, paper and brick Industries in these states.

Given this background, the Chandrapur district has its own importance in the area of mining – so as the Hindustan Lalpeth, where mining has started in 1924, if one goes by official records of the British era. “It has a very good safety record,” points out Reddy. “You cannot take it for granted, at every step there has to be checks for maintaining safety,” adds N Sen of Durgapur Open Cast Mine.

Mungantiwar demands ban on mining

Mining have its own problems and Chandrapur is an example of it. Local BJP MLA Sudhir Mungantiwar has demanded ban on the mining in the district –pointing out that it has lead to “serious water and air pollution”. Also, according to him, it has created an ‘earthquake-like situation” – as a result of blasting of mines – be it open cast mine or a shaft mine.

Tiwaris – a family of blood donors

Here is a family from Chandrapur town, which will definitely go in record books. However, they are not the ones who go after publicity. In fact, in any case of blood requirement in this district of Chandrapur, the first telephone call goes to Tiwari Niwas. This is a family of blood donors.

“I have been doing so as a teenager,” says Satyanarayan Tiwari, who has donated blood 192 times and wants to complete 200 as soon as possible. Not only Satyanarayan, but his younger brother Poonam Tiwari has donated blood 75 times. Poonam, who is an employee of WCL, wants to complete the century as early as possible. His son will be turning 18 next year and he too will start donating blood.

Satyanarayan, who is a businessman and also runs a weekly ‘Chandrapur ki Buland Aawaz’, recalls: “I was too young, when I donated blood for the first time. A pathologist needed blood and I agreed, since then I have been donating blood.” Adds Poonam: “If I don’t donate blood for two to three months, I feel uncomfortable. Blood donation is in our blood.” Satyanarayan’s elder brother late Shriniwas Tiwari donated blood more than 50 times and another of his younger brother Ghyanshyam also donates blood regularly. Satyanarayan’s son Ritesh has donated more than 30 times till now.

They have been felicitated several times. And they are committed to continue this in the times to come.

tadoba-guide

2008-01-21T00:03:00.000-08:00

The Guide of Tadoba

He may not have the looks of Dev Anand, but he is like Raju, the protagonist of R K Narayan’s ‘The Guide’, the tour guide who turns a spiritual guide. For Vasant Sonule, who is a guide at the Tadoba-Andhari National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary at Chandrapur, he not only tells tales of tiger but also couples it with nature, philosophy and spiritualism. The most sought after guide, he is in high demand among Indian and foreign tourists – and as a matter of fact, he mesmerises his customers from the volume of information that he has on every subject under the Sun.

“You cannot be an angry young man inside a jungle,” says Vasant as he starts the tour of Tadoba, one of the places in India where tigers can be seen roaming in the jungles. “Chances of spotting a tigers are not that easy in the jungles, much of it depends on luck. You may not be able to see it, but he is seeing you all through, this much I can say with assertiveness,” says Vasant as he sits on the adjacent seat of a car and guides me, Poonam Tiwari, whom every third man in Chandrapur knows, astrologer Kaushal Thakar and fellow journalist Om Prakash Tiwari. We headed to the jungles after visiting the famous Mahakali temple of Chandrapur.

As we enter the Project Tiger Reserve, he reels out the history of Tadoba – as the saying goes derives its name from the local God, "Taru". The legend goes that the village chief "Taru" was killed in an epic fight with the tiger. All the local villagers worship him as the deity of “Tadoba”. Today, the Tadoba National Park is often known as the ‘The Jewel of Vidarbha’, which is located in Chandrapur, the city of coalmines. He takes us to the deity situated next to the lake inside the reserve, during the course of the trip.

“Tadoba a haven for wildlife enthusiasts, is a rich dry deciduous forest, a great place to walk and enjoy nature,” points out thirty-something Vasant, who is a graduate, and an avid reader. Hailing from a local village in the periphery of the famous reserve. For facts, Tadoba-Andhari Tiger reserve was created in 1995. The area of the Reserve is 625.40 sq. km. This includes Tadoba National Park, created in 1955 with an area of 116.55 sq. km. and Andhari Wildlife Sanctuary created in 1986 with an area of 508.85 sq. km. “Visiting Tadoba is a must, it is unique in many aspects,” points out Maheep Gupta, the Conservator of Forests, South Chanda Circle, when we meet him hours before we set for the tiger trail.

This is a “southern tropical dry deciduous forest” and is one of the best in the country, points out Vasant – as we embark on the tiger trail. Then he starts reeling out facts at figures in one go – as he highlights the flora and fauna of Tadoba. The forest has 43 tigers, 22 leopards, 425 barking deers, 2,700 cheetals, 1,150 sambhars, 2,800 langoors, 170 beers, 150 wild dogs, 325 Neelgai, 120 wolves and so on. “These are figures as per the last census,” he clarifies. “Teak and bamboo comprises the main fauna,” he said. In the Tadoba lake, says Vasant, one can find crocodiles. And birds – there are several of them. In fact, it had a crocodile breeding center also. Tadoba Crocodiles Project became operational on November 5, 1977. The centre was very successful and many lakes and waterbodies including Tulsi lake in Mumbai were stocked with crocodiles from the breeding farm. By 1994 as the breeding centre had met its objectives and was closed. “Snakes including python and cobra are also seen here,” he said.

Then he goes on to explain what forest means – F for food an fruits, O for oxygen, R for recreation and rain, E for energy and environment, S for soil and T for tourism, tiger and trees. And finally – forest also means “for” “rest”. Vasant speaks at ease on Adam and Eve, Hindu philosophy and then gives a lecture on the importance of vegetarian food.
“Not that I have never taken non-vegetarian food, but since the last 10 years, I had turned vegetarian. The human body suits only vegetarian food,” he said.

Vasant has not only fan-following in Maharashtra, but also in Austria. “Some tourists came from Austria. It is in Europe, don’t confuse it with Australia. I showed them birds, in fact they sent me a CD and asked me to visit Austria,” he said. He also encountered some German tourists – with whom he had a debate on Hitler. “I have read Adolf Hitler’s ‘Mein Kamph’. We should take good things from everybody,” he said. “They said that it is banned in Germany. But when I told them the good things, they agreed to read it,” he said and pointed out that the whole issue started with a debate on ‘Swastik’ symbol.

He is currently reading about forts of Maharashtra - being a devotee of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the great Maratha warrior. "I want to see all the forts that Shivaji built - but I do not have the means to visit every fort, hence, I am reading as many books as possible on this," he says.

As we come out of the tiger reserve – we see an interesting board at the gate – it reads “Dhanya-Wagh” and not “Dhanya-Baad”. We may not have been able to spot a tiger, but took with us the memories of this ‘Tiger-Man’, Vasant – The Guide. “The best time to spot a tiger is February, March April,” he says as he bids us goodbye.

nashik-gandhigiri

2008-01-05T03:06:00.001-08:00

Jan 5, 2008

Nashik prisoner studies Gandhi, confess crime

NASHIK/MUMBAI: Mahatma Gandhi's autobiography still continues to inspire many. For Laxman Gole, an undertrial lodged in the Nashik Central Prison, Gandhiji's 'My Experiments With Truth' and other books on the Father of the Nation, changed his life.

Thanks to the efforts of the Bombay Sarvodaya Mandal and Gandhi Book Centre, located at Grant Road here, the undertrial is reformed. It is pertinent to mention here that the Bombay Sarvodaya Mandal organizes 'Gandhi Peace Exam' in different jails to evoke a sence of regret among the prisoners and change their hearts.

Bombay Sarvodaya Mandal's T R K Somaiya said that Gole submitted an application of "confession" to his crime to the Magistrate of Vikhroli Court after reading the autobiography of Mahatma Gandhi and decided to follow the Gandhian path of truth an non-violence. "The Judge has considered his application and reduce his imprisonment," he said.

More details were not available now as Gole will talk to the members of the media on Monday inside the prison at Nashik. At the news conference, Dr Rajan Welukar, Vice-Chancellor of Yashwantrao Chavan Open University, Nasik will also be present.

"He wrote an application to judge of Vikhroli Court that he confesses to having committed the crime and requested the Judge to end the proceeding of his case. He further wrote that he gained the courage to confess his crime after reading the autobiography of Mahatma Gandhi received from Sarvodaya Mandal," Somaiya said.

He said that people would know that Gandhi's autobiography is still inspiring not only great leaders like Nelson Mandela and other common people but also prisoners in jails.

Added Somaiya: "Gole's story will inspire people all over the world to read the autobiography and other books of Mahatma Gandhi, in the present context of increasing violence, terrorism and crime. We are confident that many people will follow the path of truth and non-violence and strive to sustain morality & peaceful conflict resolution which is the need of the hour."

nashik property boom

2008-01-05T03:03:00.001-08:00

Jan 5, 2008

Nashik witnessing major property boom: report

MUMBAI: The pilgrim-town of Nashik is witnessing major property development thanks to its proximity to commercial capital Mumbai and culture city Pune. This gels well with the fact that the Maharashtra Government has plans to develop Mumbai-Pune-Nashik as a triangle. The current property boom is not only limited to Mumbai and Pune – but Nashik, the 'Wine Capital of India', which is emerging as what is known as "growth centres".

According to estimates by global property consultants and researcher, Knight Frank Research, Nashik is going to witness residential and office space supply of about 2.1 million sq ft and 1.9 million sq ft, respectively, by 2009. It will also see an infusion of 2.1 million sq ft of quality retail space during the same period.

"Nashik with its good human resource pool and low real estate cost is picturing in the radar of IT/ITES companies looking a diversifying in smaller towns and cities," the Knight Frank report said adding that the demand of entertainment avenues like multiplexes, branded apparel shops, food and beverages is also slated to increase in near future.

Geographical proximity to Mumbai (185 kms) and Pune (220 kms) has accelerated the real estate growth in Nashik. Adequate infrastructures in terms of good roads, ample water supply and excellent educational facilities have played a major role in boosting the growth of this city. The infrastructure and industrial developments of the past two decades have transformed this traditional pilgrimage centre into a vibrant modern city.

The Godavari River has given the growth direction to Nashik and the influence can still be seen in urban Nashik. The erstwhile old city comprising of locations around the banks of Godavari River like Raviwar Peth and Panchwati have given way to new centres of growth like Mahatma Nagar, Gangapur Road and College Road in the suburbs. In more recent times, Mumbai-Agra National Highway (NH-3) and Nashik-Pune National Highway (NH-50) has influenced growth in locations like Pathardi, Adgaon, Nasik Road and Deolali Camp.

With the changing real estate scenario of Nashik, the developers are gearing up to meet the new buyer requirements of bigger homes with better amenities and plenty of greenery. Upmarket addresses in the city include locations like Central Bus Stand, Mahatma Nagar, Gangapur Road and College Road. Locations like Sharanpur Road, Trimbak Road, Nashik Road, Jail Road and Deolali are the other popular residential destinations in Nashik.

The demand for open plots and bungalow schemes is rising in areas like Adgaon Road and Pathardi, located close to the Mumbai-Agra highway.Majority of the upcoming office projects are developed as mixed use developments with ground floor dedicated to retail and upper floors for office.

Currently, 5% of the total office space is being used by the BPO sector companies like WNS and Tricom. However, the scenario is fast changing as major IT/ITES companies are considering Nashik as the destination

for future expansion. The first IT Park of Nashik, V Tech Park (750,000 sq.ft.), a joint venture between Pune based Vascon group and Nashik based Sanklecha Group is coming up in Indira Nagar, near Mumbai Naka and is expected to be operational by 2008.

Nashik attracts a number of tourists due to its old city charm and cultural heritage. The high streets and traditional bazaars thus have a ready market among the visiting population. Nevertheless, the upcoming mall projects are a reflection of the changing aspirations of the local population and the changing retail scenario. Organised retailing has picked up in Nashik over the past 2 to 3 years and major retail brands like Big Bazaar, Café Coffee Day, Mc Donald's, @Home, etc. have their presence in Nashik.

Majority of the retail projects are coming along College Road, Gangapur Road, Untwadi and Old Agra Road, as these established retail destinations also have a presence of high end residential catchments. Untwadi also boasts of Banyan Square (750,000 sq.ft.) by Sarda Group, which is projected to be the second largest mall in Maharashtra.

Till 2006, residential market in Nashik witnessed a slow growth with an annual appreciation in the range of 5-15%. However, the advent of IT/ITES companies into Nashik has led to speculative price rise in the residential sector. Since then, the residential sector has witnessed appreciation in the range of 30-70% in the past one year. Current residential values in the prime locations of the city, like College Road and Gangapur road are in the range of Rs.2,500-3,000/sq.ft.

bird trade

2007-12-15T03:39:00.000-08:00

May 7, 2004

Bird trade flourishing in India despite ban: Peta

MUMBAI, May 7: Illegal bird trade continues to flourish in India inspite of the fact that the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, bans trading of birds, according to people for ethical treatment of animals (Peta’s) Chief Functionary Anuradha Sawhney here.

Poachers bring in thousands of birds, captured from the forests, smuggle them in cramped containers or even stuff them into socks and hide them in shoes, small boxes or even toilet paper rolls. Sixty per cent of the birds die in transit from broken wings and legs, thirst or fright, she said yesterday.

The leading NGO also alleged that the loaders and station masters are commonly paid to look away as birds are smuggled into Indian cities.

These birds are sold in pet shops and crammed into filthy cages. Some are artificially dyed with garish colours.

The Peta pointed out that the birds are flock-oriented. In their natural habitats, they preen each other, fly together, play and share egg-incubation duties.

Birds are masters of navigation. They use the sun, stars, landmarks and the magnetic pull of the earth to guide them on journeys of thousands of miles.

The Peta appealed to the citizens to complain in case one comes across a bird-seller or a fortune teller who mostly use parrots.

Peta spokesperson Bijal Vachharajani said if more people appreciate how rich and complex birds’ lives are in the wild, human exploitation of birds, fuelled by the illegal pet trade, would decrease.

Despite the Wildlife Protection Act, which bans the trade and trapping of all indigenous birds, and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), which restricts the trade of foreign birds, a black market in birds thrive openly in many places, involving 300 of the country’s estimated 1,200 species.
"Laws designed to protect India’s birds are well intentioned, but rarely enforced," she lamanted and said one of the largest illegal trades in animals takes place at crawford market in south Mumbai.

In 1997, Bombay High Court ordered a committee to conduct raids at the market, which temporarily curbed the illegal trade. The committee was active for a few months before they stopped and so the illegal activities of the animal dealers in the Crawford market and in other markets are mushrooming.

Bird markets thrive openly in many cities because police and wildlife officials commonly accept bribes from the sellers. At the nakhas market in Lucknow, one bird hawker sells ravens, rafter pigeons, wild roosters, turkeys, ducks, lovebirds and sarus cranes, the world s tallest flying bird and an endangered species, while at the Hogg market in Kolkata, every Sunday village trappers sell more than 6,000 birds to the local sellers on market day, said Vachharajani.

Poachers illegally bring in thousands of birds, captured from the bird-rich hills and forests of the northeast, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar primarily around the gangetic plain and in the foothills of the Himalayas or from southern states, such as Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and deccan plateau.

Packed in small boxes, they are transported on trains to cities. An estimated 60 per cent die on their way as a result of broken wings and legs, thirst or sheer panic and fright.
Birds play an important role in maintaining the ecological balance. Their dwindling numbers are beginning to take a devastating toll on India’s forests, which need birds to spread seeds in order to thrive. It is estimated that for every Parakeet or Munia in captivity, there is one tree less in India.

Many of the birds being widely traded are threatened species, such as the Swamp Francolin (Francolinus Gularis), green Munia (Estrilda Formosa), Finnbs Baya (Ploceus Megarhynchus) and Shaheen Falcon (Falco Peregrinus). (UNI)

ter being restored

2007-12-07T03:22:00.000-08:00

December 7, 2007

Ancient site Ter being restored

BY MRITYUNJAY BOSE

MUMBAI: The Archaeology and Museums Directorate of Maharashtra is restoring one of the most-ancient sites – Ter in Osmanabad district of Marathwada region, which lends testimony to the early Christian era trade from the banks of Terna river and Rome in Europe.

"It is a minefield, which gives several important historical perspective. We are restoring it and neighbouring areas and the restoration is expected to be complete in a year's time. We want to bring this heritage site in the international map," says R N Hegde, the Director of Archaeology and Museums Directorate, Maharashtra.

Ter was one of the most flourishing trade centers – giving boost to architectural and religious activities.

"Over the years hundreds of antiquarian remains from Ter have been reported and studied – and several important facts have come to light," Hedge told 'The Herald'.

The excavations has mentioned two main cultural phases – the Sathavahana (200 BC to 100 AD) and the other being Indo-Roman (100 AD to 300 AD) – and of the two it was the latter that is "artistically richer" and varied in antiquities. Objects like beads, garlands, combs, figures of goddess, toys of terracotta and kaolin have been uncovered from various excavations.

These studies have helped understanding cultural relations between other contemporary sites like Paitan, Kolhapur, Nashik and Nevasa in Maharashtra. Besides, this also enables archaeologists and historians to know the process of urbanization of Deccan. "Further excavation has also been planned to get more information on this," he said.

Early brick temples, water tanks, Buddhist remains indicate Ter ans a "religious artistic and commercial" centre in the early historical period. Points out Hegde: " Ter has its own share in propagation of 'bhagvat dharma'. It is not a mere coincidence that Gora Kumbhar, a contemporary of Saint Jnyaneshvar was a resident of Ter."

Brisk commercial activities and the vigorous artistic and cultural activities at Ter had its own impact on the neighboring areas of Ter. "In fact Ter cannot and should not be looked at in isolation. Ter as a cultural zone has a lot more things to reveal than otherwise," he said.

At Dharashiv, a few kilometers away from Ter, there is a group of rock-cut temples carved sometime in the 7-8th centuries. These rock-cut temples may not have the beauty and the splendor of the Ajanta group of temples, but its impact is unmistakable. "Some refurbishment of rock-cut caves will also be carried out," he said.

At Jagji, about 9 kilometers from Ter, we have a structural stone temple constructed sometime in the 12th century. It has one of the most ornate shikaras of the Chalukyan style. The Mahalakshmi temple here is built in 12 th century.

There are number of ancient mounds in and around Ter awaiting the excavators. Even a casual stroll in the village makes one stumble upon objects, which have an antiquarian value. In view of the importance of Ter as a historical and cultural centre, we have - without restricting ourselves only to Ter - included the monuments from the surrounding area as well in this project.

TEMPLES GALORE:

Ter has three important temples - Trivikrama, Uttareshvara and Kaleshvar. They are important from the point of view of understanding the origin and development of structural temple architecture in Maharashtra. These temples have been maintained fairly well and there is not much to do so far as restoration work is concerned. Trivikrama and Uttareshvara temples had collapsed completely during the earthquake that occurred in the year 1993. Both of them were restored and brought back to their original shape in the year 1997-98. However, because of the very nature of the material used in the construction of the temples and their antiquity, they require regular maintenance. General clearance, strengthening of the walls, waterproofing and beautification of the area are some of the items that are proposed in this year.

WATER TANK:

During the course of an excavation altogether a new piece of evidence in the form of water tank, constructed in brick, was recovered for the first time at Ter. It is dated to the Sathavahana period. It was called tirthakund. It is in a fairly good state of preservation. However, as it is located in the middle of a field, it is subjected to continuous silting of the mud and also debris. "To prevent entering the debris and the mud from the field into the Tirtha, we are proposing to build a wired fencing with a parapet wall. Debris will be cleared and the tank will be de-silted. Cultural and information boards will be installed at important places," said Hedge.

IMPORTANT FACTS

* Roman coins discovered shows link of Ter and Greece and Rome
* Ter has played the process of urbanization in Deccan
* Ter is mention in the 'Periplus of the Erythrean Sea' as Tagara
* Well-known epigraphist showed in 1901 that Tagara is present day Ter
* It is mentioned as the most prosperous trading centre in Dakshinapatha

(This report was first published in The Maharashtra Herald, Pune)

siberian cranes gives india a skip

2007-12-05T02:47:00.000-08:00

December 4, 2007

Siberian cranes give India a skip

MRITYUNJAY BOSE

MUMBAI: The majestic Siberian cranes, which used to arrive at Bharatpur in Rajasthan every winter, appear to have skipped India – these birds have not been sighted in this part of the world since 2001 – and now it is unlikely they would ever come to India again.

The last time a pair was spotted was in 2001 at the Keoladeo National Park in Bharatpur, when they flew over Afghanistan and arrived here in spite of bombing raids by US fighter jets to oust the erstwhile Taliban regime, during the month of October 2001 after the September 11 kamikaze.

But since 2001, these birds have not been sighted in the famous Keoladeo National Park at Bharatpur – or any other parts of northern India. The reasons are one too many – for their not coming here for wintering.

“It is a shame that we lost the Siberian cranes, but many other species are also disappearing. (The) Keoladeo National Park at Bharatpur is in terrible shape due to water-politics of Rajasthan. The Rajasthan government is not bothered to save this prestigious National Park, a World Heritage Site, a Ramsar (Convention of Wetlands) site and Important Bird Area (IBA),” laments Dr Asad R Rahmani, Director of Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS).

Rahmani said that there is no chance to get Siberian crane now because the Central population, which used to come to India is extinct, and in the Western population, probably less than ten are left. The Western population winters in Iran. Only the Eastern population is strong, about 3,000 birds but they are also under threat due to changes in their wintering areas in China - due to building of Three Gorges Dam.

Siberian cranes or Great White cranes (scientific name -- Grus leucogeranus) used to arrive in India for wintering and earlier flocks were seen arriving since October and they used to leave for their homeland during March-April. In fact, in 1965 at Bharatpur over 200 Siberian cranes were seen, but in 1993 only five of them could be spotted.

In 1994 and 1995, no birds of this variety were seen but in 1996, four of them were spotted. But in the late ninties only a couple of pairs were regularly spotted and in 2001, the last time, only a pair could be seen. Ornithologists attribute habitat loss as one of the prime reasons for the birds not being seen now. Moreover, incidents of hunting of Siberian cranes have been reported over Afghanistan and Pakistan in the past.

These birds traverse a distance over over 2,500 miles to escape the cold winters of Siberia. These birds used to arrive in India flying over Russia, Kazakistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and then to India. The Ab-i-Istada lake in Afghanistan was one of the stopover for these birds, which generally took around two months to reach India.

(This story was first published in The Maharashtra Herald)

address-reference-1

2007-12-04T00:55:00.000-08:00

No. Name & Address Contact Person
Name & Email Id's Subject Area Subnetwork Area
1 Centre for Ecological Sciences - Indian Institute of Science(IIS)
Indian Institute of Science
Bangalore
Karnataka-560 012, Bangalore
Phone: 91-080-23600985, 22933099, 22932506
Fax: 91-080-23601428, 23600085, 23600683
Email Id: iisc@envis.nic.in
ENVIS URL: http://ces.iisc.ernet.in/biodiversity, http://ces.iisc.ernet.in/hpg/envis
Org. URL: http://ces.iisc.ernet.in Prof. R.Sukumar - Chairman

Dr. T.V. Ramachandran - ENVIS Coordinator
Email Id:
envis@ces.iisc.ernet.in
Western Ghats and Biological Diversity Ecology and Ecosystems
2 Centre for Mining and Environment(ISM)
Indian School of Mines

Dhanbad-826004, Jharkhand
Phone: 0326-2206372, 2202486
Fax: 0326-2206372, 2203042
Email Id: ism@envis.nic.in
ENVIS URL: http://www.geocities.com/envis_ism,
Org. URL: http://www.iism.dhanbad.org Prof. S.N. Mukherjee - Head

Prof. Gurdeep Singh - ENVIS Coordinator
Email Id:
s_gurdeep2001@yahoo.com
Environmental Problems of Minning Ecology and Ecosystems
3 G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development
Kosi - Katarmal

Almora-263643, Uttaranchal
Phone: 05962-241015,241150
Fax: 05962-241150
Email Id: gbpihed@envis.nic.in
ENVIS URL: http://gbpihed.nic.in/envis/envis.html,
Org. URL: http://gbpihed.nic.in Dr. Upender Dhar - Director

Dr. P.P. Dhyani - ENVIS Coordinator
Email Id:
ao@gbpihud.nic.in
Himalayan Ecology Ecology and Ecosystems
4 School of Planning and Architecture(SPA)
4, Block - B,
I.P. Estate
New Delhi-110 002, Delhi
Phone: 011-23702393, 23702395
Fax: 011-23702383
Email Id: ephod@vsnl.net
ENVIS URL: http://www.spaenvis.nic.in,
Org. URL: http://www.indiawatch.org/spa Prof. Subir Saha - Director

Prof. S.K. Sahu - ENVIS Coordinator
Email Id:
shovan@eth.net
Human Settlement Ecology and Ecosystems
5 Bombay Natural Histroy Society(BNHS)
Hornbill House, Dr. Salim Ali chowk
Saheed Bhagat Singh road
Mumbai-400 023, Maharashtra
Phone: 022-22821811
Fax: 022-22837615
Email Id: bnhs@envis.nic.in
ENVIS URL: http://www.envisbnhs.org,
Org. URL: http://www.bnhs.org Dr. Asad R. Rahmani - Director

Mr. Girish.A.Jathar - ENVIS Coordinator
Email Id:
envisbhns@vsnl.net
Avian Ecology including Inland, Wetlands Ecology and Ecosystems
6 Department of Geology - University of Kerala
Kariavattom Campus

Thiruvananthapuram-695 581, Kerala
Phone: 0471-2418403
Fax:
Email Id: dguk@envis.nic.in
ENVIS URL: http:///www.marinecosystematuok.net,
Org. URL: http://www.keralauniversity.edu/ Prof. V. Prasanna Kumar - Professor and Head

-
Email Id:
envisuniker@yahoo.com
Marine Ecosystem Ecology and Ecosystems
7 Institute for Ocean Management(IOM)
College of Engineering
Anna University
Chennai-600 025, Tamil Nadu
Phone: 044-22351723, 22200158(D)
Fax: 044-22200159
Email Id: iom@envis.nic.in
ENVIS URL: http://www.annauniv.edu/iom/COZMA,
Org. URL: http://www.annauniv.edu Dr. R. Ramesh - Director

Dr. S. Ramachandran - ENVIS Coordinator
Email Id:
chandran@ns.annauniv.edu
Coastal Regulation Zone Management Ecology and Ecosystems
8 National Museum of Natural History (NMNH)
FICCI Museum Building,
Barakhamba Road
New Delhi-110 001, Delhi
Phone: 011-23320739, 23710576
Fax: 011-23314932
Email Id: nmnh@envis.nic.in
ENVIS URL: ,
Org. URL: http://nmnh.nic.in Dr. S.K. Saraswat - Director

-
Email Id:

Museology with Special Reference to Natural History Ecology and Ecosystems
9 Environment Protection Training and Research Institute(EPTRI)
91/4, Gachibowli,

Hyderabad-500 032, Andhra Pradesh
Phone: 040-23001242, 23000489, 23001707(D)
Fax: 040-23000361
Email Id: ap@envis.nic.in
ENVIS URL: http://www.envis-eptri.org,
Org. URL: http://www.eptri.com Mrs. Gayathri Ramachandran - Director General

Shri. S.H. Baquer - ENVIS Coordinator
Email Id:
baquer@eptri.com
Eastern Ghats Ecology Ecology and Ecosystems
10 CPR Environmental Education Centre (CPR)
1 Eldams Road,

Chennai-600 018, Tamil Nadu
Phone: 044-24346526, 24337023
Fax: 044-24320756
Email Id: cpreec@envis.nic.in
ENVIS URL: http://www.ecoheritage.cpreec.org,
Org. URL: http://cpreec.org Dr.(Mrs.) Nanditha C, Krishna - Hon. Director

-
Email Id:

Conservation of Ecological Heritage and Sacred Sites in India Ecology and Ecosystems
11 Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History(SACON)
Anaikatty P.O.

Coimbatore-641 108, Tamil Nadu
Phone: 0422-2657101-105, 2657086, 2657096
Fax: 0422-2657088
Email Id: sacon@envis.nic.in
ENVIS URL: http://www.wetlandsofindia.org,
Org. URL: http://www.saconindia.org Mrs. Laitha Vijyan - Director

Dr. S. Narendra Prasad - ENVIS Coordinator
Email Id:

Wetland Ecosystem Ecology and Ecosystems
12 Central Arid Zone Research Institute (CAZRI)
Dr. Raheja Library

Jodhpur-342 003, Rajasthan
Phone: 0291-2740931,0291-2740706
Fax: 040-3000361
Email Id: dcojha@cazri.res.in
ENVIS URL: http://www.cazri.res.in/envis.htm,
Org. URL: http://www.cazri.res.in Dr. Pratap Narain - Director

Dr. D.C. Ojha - ENVIS Coordinator
Email Id:
dcojha@cazri.res.in

navy-madras regiment

2007-12-03T00:59:00.000-08:00

INS Mysore affiliated with Madras regiment

MUMBAI, Nov 17/2003: The Indian Army and the Indian Navy took another step forward in their quest for jointmanship when the western fleet’s premier combatant ‘INS Mysore’ and the Madras regiment, signed a charter of affiliation on board the ‘INS Mysore’ at the naval dockyard here this morning.

The document was signed by Madras Regimental Centre Commandant Brig G Athmanathan and ‘INS Mysore’ Commanding Officer Capt Arvind Raj Vardhan in the presence of Flag Officer Commanding (FOC) western fleet rear Admiral Vijay Shankar and Lt Gen Dinesh Singh Chauhan, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C), Central Command and the Colonel of the Madras regiment.

In a brief interaction with the media after the formal ceremony, Lt Gen Chauhan said while sharing the joy and peace, the affiliation is part of the process in working together in not just peace, but future operational tasks too.

Rear Admiral Vijay Shankar said the basic aim is to realise unity and achieve tasks together.

Earlier in his brief address, Lt Gen Chauhan recalled the rich tradition of maritime history and valour of the soldiers of the Madras regiment, the descendants of the Cholas, the Pandiyas, Telugus and the Cheras whose history of valour is unparalleled.

The relationship between ‘Mysore’ and the Madras regiment is rooted in history and could be traced to Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan of the princely staste of Mysore. The heroism displayed by these two valiant rulers against the British and several other Indian rulers is legendary and is, now, part of the regimental folklore.

The bravery displayed by these soldiers of the Mysore Army is well chronicled in the annals of history. Post Independence, the infantry battalion from the Mysore Army merged with the Madras regiment as 18 Madras (Mysore battalion).

While the Madras regiment is one of the most decorated regiments with one Ashok Chakra, five Mahavir Chakras, one Uttam Yudh Seva medal, nine Kiri Chakras, 24 Shaurya Chakras and 167 Sena medals, the ‘INS Mysore’ is a sophisticated state-of-the-art indigenously built (Mazagon docks) destroyer equipped with a formidable package of weapons, sensors, machinery and equipment that navies of most nations envy.

Mysore has 16 surface-to-surface missiles, Ka battery of surface-to-air missiles, a 100 MM range gun, two 30 MM short range rapid fire gatling guns, two state-of-the-art point defence missile systems, torpedoes, anti-submarine rockets and decoys. She carries two ‘Sea King’ multi-role helicopters, which are formidable force multipliers and has participated in ‘OP Vijay’ and in the northern Arabian Sea foray in ‘OP Parakram’ in mid-2001.

The new ‘INS Mysore’ is the reincarnation of the indomitable spirit of her predecessor of the same name, which from the 50s to the 70s was India’s most powerful ship and had a distinguished history. She was commissioned as ‘HMS Nigeria’ in the royal navy in August 1940, and later commissioned into the Indian Navy on August 29, 1957, and played a vital role in the liberation of Goa and was the flagship of the Flag Officer Commanding Western fleet during the blockade of Karachi in the 1971 Indo-Pak conflict. (UNI)

reliance-heritage

2007-12-01T04:33:00.000-08:00

Reliance to play major role in UNESCO site restoration

MUMBAI, Sept 7/2004: In a unique initiative towards preserving Indian heritage, the multi-crore reliance group will play a major role in the restoration of Champaner-Pavagadh in Gujarat, one of the 26 UNESCO world heritage sites in India.

Champaner-Pavagadh, located 40 kms from Vadodara, is Gujarat’s first world heritage site and the 26th in UNESCO’s India list. Once a prosperous medieval capital of Gujarat and with no less significance in Indian history than Fatehpur-Sikri and Hampi-Vijayanagara, it is also a perfect example of secularism.

An exhibition titled ‘Champaner-Pavagadh: forgotten no more’ was inaugurated recently in the presence of Mrinalani Sarabhai, as a troupe of dancers clapped and danced to the strains of Garba, "Maa Pava Tee Gadh Thi.." and Bhil tribals playing bamboo flute.

"We are glad to be associated with the heritage trust and CSMVS museum in organising a unique exhibition for the people of Mumbai. Earlier, we had the opportunity to be part of a festival at Champaner and an exhibition," a reliance official said yesterday.

"Reliance will continue to explore opportunities in the future for further development of this world heritage site," the official pointed out.

Heritage trust president Karan Grover told reporters, after an animated presentation, that the exhibition was the culmination of a 22-year-old campaign in an attempt to engage Indians with history and heritage.

"A multi-disciplinary group of individuals with commitment and perseverance have presented this extraordinary medieval capital with 1,800 years of built history at every imaginable international forum, which has resulted in the UNESCO inscription as a world heritage site," he said.

Director of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahlaya (CSMVS), Museum Dr Kalpana Desai said, "the site is popular as a pilgrimage destination with millions of people flocking the Kalikamata shrine, revered as one of the 52 Shaktipeeths, at the summit of Pavagadh hill."
"However, the historical, archaeological and architectural significance of the site has been generally forgotten. With recognition as a world heritage site, the former glory of Champaner-Pavagadh, once the powerful and prosperous medieval pre-Mughal capital of Gujarat, will perhaps be restored," he added.

The sacred mountain of Pavagadh is part of the cultural landscape and eloquent local myths and legends about its prosperous bygone days and valiant heroes are kept alive through the oral traditions of Garba and Bhavai.

As one of the prominent Shaktipeeths, the hill itself is as sacred and holy as the Goddess yantra installed in the Kalikamata temple at the summit of the hill.

It is popularly believed that the hill is the burnt right toe of Goddess Sati, which fell here when Lord Shiva danced the ‘Tandava’ with sati’s half-burnt body after she leapt into the fire of the yagna being performed by her father, Daksha Prajapati. On an average, over a lakh pilgrims visit this site every month and the numbers are increasing.

For a number of years, Pavagadh was ruled by the Khichi Chauhans (descendents of Prithviraj Chauhan) who fortified the hill from where they ruled. As Champaner-Pavagadh was on the strategic route to Malwa, Mehmud Begda, grandson of Ahmed Shah who established Ahmedabad, was interested in capturing it. He succeeded after several years of seige during which he had already begun building Champaner city at the base of Pavagadh, later making it its capital.

Champaner-Pavagadh is perhaps the most authentic medieval city in India as all the information about the original city, without any transformation, is available below the ground. This untouched nature of information is significant to understand medieval sultanate capitals of regional India as predecessors of later Mughal style of architecture. (UNI)

jayanta saha exhibition

2007-12-01T04:30:00.000-08:00

Shabana Azmi inaugurates photo exhibition on Bhuj

MUMBAI, July 19/2001: Would archaeologists be able to restore historic monuments that have been turned into rubble by the January 26 killer earthquake in Bhuj ?

This is the question that arose in the minds of most visitors as they saw some of the unique pictures that city-based lensman Jayanta Saha clicked in Bhuj before and after the fateful 59 seconds on January 26, 2001.

"Oh my God....It is really shocking," said noted actress and Rajya Sabha member Shabana Azmi while inaugurating the exhibition titled "splendour and ruins of Bhuj" last night alongwith her husband, noted writer and poet Javed Akhtar.
Earlier, Tina Ambani, associated with the Reliance Group as its photo consultant, complimented Saha.

"The splendour of the monuments is gone, only the photographs now remain," lamented Saha as the exhibition opened at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) here.
A cross section of people from various walks of life, who attended the exhibition, wondered whether the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) will be able to restore these monuments which are in ruins.

The main attraction of the 61-photograph exhibition are the 18th Century period "Chhatris", which are in rubble now. While the photographs of these Chhatris, taken in 1993, reveal the rich heritage of the hard-working Kutchhis, the photographs of rubble shows what nature has done to it.

These Chhatris to the west of Hamirsar lake in Bhuj were polygonal in form and had two galleries with two entrances. The roof was covered with artistic supporting pillars at each corner. The central dome surrounded by a wall, had a door to the west. In this room was a stone image of Maharaoshri Lakhpatiji, the erstwhile ruler on horseback and memorials of his 15 wives around it.

"All these memories of the past glory were razed to the ground in the fateful 59 seconds on January 26 when Bhuj witnessed the earth shattering climax of nature’s play," Saha told UNI here adding that the photographs attempt to bring out the ephemeral nature of human civilization and its utter helplessness in the face of nature’s fury.
The photo-journalist felt that "efforts should be made to restore such imposing monuments of the past". (UNI)

shinde-interview

2007-12-01T04:11:00.000-08:00

Development will continue in big way in Maharashtra: Shinde

MUMBAI, March 6/2003: Notwithstanding financial constraints, Maharashtra will have a bigger plan outlay for 2003-04, Chief Minister Sushilkumar Shinde has said.

"Let me assure you that the budget this year will be bigger than that of last year", Mr Shinde told UNI last night in an interview at the State Government’s plush Sahyadri guest house at Malabar Hill in South Mumbai.

"Come what may, development activities of the State will continue", the Chief Minister said, a few days before the start of the budget session of the Maharashtra legislature, next Monday.
Having a record of presenting the State budget as Finance Minister nine times, Mr Shinde, who took over as the Chief Minister in January this year, assured that he will pull the State out of its current financial condition within no time.

"It will be one or two years and the State’s financial condition will be back on the track", asserted a confident-looking Mr Shinde, who has accorded priority to infrastructure development in the State, besides giving thrust to the pending irrigation projects and improving power situation in the State.

Dressed in his trade-mark crisp spotless white kurta-pajama, the Chief Minister, who took over reigns of the Congress-led Democratic Front (DF) Government in Maharashtra from Vilasrao Deshmukh, said that he was constantly in touch with leading banks and financial institutions for executing various projects.

Mr Shinde, who had earlier predicted that the State may have to face the worst-ever drought since 1972, said that the State administrative machinery was fully geared up to extend relief to the scarcity-hit areas of the State and for this, he had all ready held a high-level meeting with concerned officials.

With Maharashtra scheduled to go to the polls in September-October next year, Mr Shinde, who has also contested the Vice-Presidential elections as the opposition candidate, admitted that time was "too short" and he had various things to do.

Mr Shinde, Maharashtra’s first-ever Dalit Chief Minister who often describes himself as a "humble servant of the people", said that he had initiated a programme to be in contact with the people of the State to understand their needs.

"I meet around 400 to 500 people everyday", Mr Shinde, who took time out from his busy schedule to speak to this correspondent, said. He added that whenever he was touring the interiors of the State, he tried to address the problems of the people on the spot itself.

"I have told my officers to be frank with the people. If you can do their work, say yes, if you cannot, say no. Be open with the people," he said, adding, that he made it a point to visit the Congress office where-ever he went and also meet people at the various State Government circuit houses.

"In a democracy, one has to be in touch with the people", is the new Chief Minister’s motto. Mr Shinde is also interacting extensively with the Congress ranks and files in the State as a run up to the Assembly and the Lok Sabha elections scheduled next year.

On being asked whether the Shiv Sena’s wooing of the Dalits in the wake of elections next year would have any affect on his party, he described the Sena’s move as a temporary phase. "Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar was against communalism", he summed up.

Talking about the infrastructure development in the State, especially in the commercial capital of the country, the Chief Minister said that he, along with his team of top bureaucrats, had met a group of over 50 young entrepreneurs to share his vision for Mumbai.

"There was a great deal of exchange of views on various schemes like roadways, freeways, waterways along with other issues", he said. "We have to channelise the energy of the youth who will have a major role to play in the future development of Mumbai, the capital of Maharashtra", the Chief Minister said.

He said his recent meeting with the chairpersons of various banks and financial institutions had been successful. He also pointed out that resource mobilisation in Maharashtra was the best in the country. Mr Shinde said the Government should give loans at lower rates so that those taken earlier at higher rates could be paid off.

This, he said, would benefit many states which are in a poor financial condition. He also made it a point to mention that Maharashtra was a revenue-earning state. "Andhra has 20 per cent earning and the loan component may be 100 per cent, but Maharashtra has 70 per cent earnings and the loan component is less than even 60 per cent," he added.

The Chief Minister said a meeting of top IAS and IPS officers was held over the week-end under his chairmanship and the meet was to increase coordination, especially in the wake of impending scarcity-like situation.

Mr Shinde said he had also summouned all the Divisional Commissioners, Collectors, CEOs of Zilla Parishads and Revenue officers to ensure coordination. "No where, should there be idleness or slackness in case the scarcity-situation is worse", said Mr Shinde, who is often dubbed a grass roots leader.

For effective law and order management in the districts of the State, he had also convened a meeting of Superintendents of Police and the Collectors — a move which is the first of its kind. "The law and order situation in the State and its management and welfare of policemen were discussed in this meeting," he added.

Asked about the controversial Enron-sponsored Dabhol power project, he said that the matter was with the IDBI and during his official visit of New Delhi after he had taken over as Chief Minister, he has apprised Finance Minister Jaswant Singh about the State of the project.
As far as the energy situation in the State was concerned, he admitted that there was a shortfall, but said that the State was drawing power from other sources to make up the deficit and streamline the load-shedding process in the State. He also revealed that he had requested the Government-owned NTPC to Start a project upto 1,000 mega-watt in the State.

During the interaction, he also highlighted the role of bureaucracy in the development of the State. "Bureaucrats are an important constituent and pillar of development and let me tell you I mean business," said Mr Shinde. (UNI)

coast guard exercise

2007-12-01T02:48:00.001-08:00

Coast guard carries out exercise in Arabian Sea

MUMBAI, Feb 1/2002: For a change the early morning calm over the Arabian Sea was shattered as dornier aircrafts cut across the blue skies to liquidate mock targets, choppers carrying out helobatics and ships displaying a range of coast guard operations on the eve of the 17th anniversary of the coast guard yesterday.

Mediapersons witnessed the exercise during a conducted ‘day-at-sea’ onboard front-line ship ‘CGA Samar’, carried out under the supervision of Commodore S Pradeep, Commander of Coast Guard Western Region.

While the Agile single-engine Chetak multi-role helicopters, which are the only choppers used by the Coast Guard, performed an array of helobatics leaving the audience spellbound even as they displayed their manoeuvrability through a search-and-rescue exercise, the sleek dornier aircraft displayed several drills and mock firing and aerial recce missions.

The oil-spill response and anti-poaching activities were also displayed as part of the day-long-exercise by the Coast Guard, which is the only maritime agency in the world, to have apprehended pirates. A mock operation was also carried out showing capturing of ‘Pirates’.

Containing an oil spill was carried out through helicopters and specialised vessels using sophisticated technologies and pollution-response has the Indian Coast Guard which is the Nodal Agency for Search and Rescue (S R) in the Indian Search and Rescue Region.

The officers also explained how it provides assistance to institutions engaged in research for collecting oceanographic data and other information. (UNI)

mahajan-nuclear

2007-12-01T02:42:00.000-08:00

India to utilise N-weapons as a deterrent: Mahajan

MUMBAI, Mar 28/199: Asserting that India will utilise nuclear weapons as a deterrent, Information and Broadcasting Minister Pramod Mahajan today said that the challenge before scientist and security agencies is to develop a sophisticated command and control system of effecting delivery.

"Nuclear weapons cannot be transported or delivered on bicycles or trucks and we need to have an effective command and control system," the Minister said while addressing a huge gathering of BJP workers on the concluding day of Jan Jagran Abiyan here.

"It will take a few years time for developing an effective command system", he said, adding that the Government need not be destabilised at this stage.

"The nuclear cover will act as a deterrent against enemies and those who have guts to see eye to eye with India," he said and added "we will make the country’s nuclear policy irreversible." We are a peace loving country and do not want to harm anybody, he asserted while reiterating that the nuclear weapons will be used as a deterrent.

Mr Mahajan refuted the opposition claim that Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee was the weakest ever Prime Minister the country has had. "He is strong enough and that prompted him to take several bold and wise decisions including improving India’s nuclear progress, he said amidst thunderous applause.

The Pokhran II set of five nuclear tests on May 11 and May 13 have given a new identity to the country that of being a nuclear power. "It is just a matter of mere 53 days after assuming power at the Centre on March 19 1998, Prime Minister A B Vajpayee made India a nuclear power", he said, adding that the Congress was on a campaign to malign the image of the Government and the Prime Minister. After being a nuclear power we need not cow down before the super powers.

Saying that US sanctions did not have any effect on the country, he thanked the NRI community for subscribing to resurgent India bonds. "US dollar 4.3 billion (Rs 18,000 crore) in just 10 days, which means Rs 1800 crore per day... One crore in just 60 seconds was made by these bonds," he said, adding that the super powers need not think of bullying India.

He said that the Kashmir issue was bilateral and India will not accept intervention of any third party in resolving the issue. He pointed out that Prime Minister’s bus journey to Lahore was a landmark achievement and it will improve the relations between India and Pakistan.

Mr Mahajan dismissed the idea of a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the episode of sacking of former Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat. "The Prime Minister and Defence Minister George Fernandes must have found something serious about the conduct of Admiral Bhagwat and hence he was sacked," he said.

He alleged that the Congress was misusing democratic institutions and demanding a JPC probe. "Whenever they are in opposition in Lok Sabha, they utilise Rajya Sabha for various demands", he said while hinting about the recent stalling of proceedings in Rajya Sabha. (UNI)

poaching problem

2007-11-30T23:28:00.001-08:00

‘Poaching posing a severe problem’

MUMBAI, Sept 15/2002: Poaching of wild animals is posing a serious challenge to law-enforcement agencies next only to narcotics dealing and gun-running.

This was disclosed here yesterday by Union Ministry of Environment and Forest (MOEF) Secretary P V Jayakrishnan at a workshop on implementation of the new national wildlife action plan, hosted by the Bombay Natural History Society Director Dr Asad Rahmani.

"Poaching is a serious problem," he said, adding that tigers, elephants, lions, leopards and one-horned rhinos were the real sufferers. "Today the tiger population in the country is 3,700-odd and between 1999-2002 around 125 of these majestic animals have been killed," he said.
Mr Jayakrishnan said the tiger skins and bones and tusks of elephants are high-value products in the international market. To curb poaching there was a need for concerted efforts by all agencies concerned and the involvement of local people.

"We need to have effective forest management systems, an effective community-based network and intelligence system in place," he said and added that the increasing man-animal conflict, resulting out of depleting forest cover was also adding to the number of wild animals killed. Mr Jayakrishnan said that every year 8,000 wildlife cases were registered in courts. However, 72 per cent of these wildlife offences investigations take a real long time, he said.

"We need to go to the roots and target the kingpins involved in these rackets," he stated. He said currently the leopard population in the country is around 7,000 while the elephant population stood at 28,000-odd. "From this stage itself we will have to think of protecting these animals and increase their population,"he said.

The Secretary stated that the animals were not the only sufferers. "You go to a forest and see that some of the trees are reduced to stumps. Poaching is a real serious problem," he said in presence of noted wildlife experts like editor of ‘Sanctuary’ magazine Bittu Sahgal, Amravati-based Kishor Rithe and Bombay Environmental Action Plan president Debi Goenka.

The MOEF Secretary said pesticides were also compounding the problem. "There have been deaths of wetland birds because of excessive use of pesticides. It is again a real problem," he said, adding that the mangroove cover in the coastal region also needs to be enhanced.
Mr Jayakrishnan said funds were not a problem for implemention of various projects in his ministry as he had apprised the Planning Commission and the Finance Ministry of all the facts. "But we want that the money should really go to the grassroot level from the State Governments," he noted.

He said he had also discussed the matter with the Chief Secretaries of the State. He said Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had accorded top priority status to this sector.
The Secretary stated that there are around 1.73 lakh villages in the periphery of national parks, sanctuaries and forests. Of these, 65,000 have formed joint committees with forest department officials. "The rest of the villages will be covered in the next one and a half year-time," he said. (UNI)

science museums

2007-11-30T23:25:00.000-08:00

NSCM developing science museums abroad

MUMBAI, Dec 18/2003: After gaining expertise in making science musuems, the National Council of Science Museums (NCSM) is now taking up projects on a turn-key basis in foreign countries.
"We have enough expertise and are now helping foreign countries in making museums," NCSM Director-General I K Mukherjee told UNI here.

Mr Mukherjee said that the NSCM had developed one museum in Brisbane, Australia.
Besides this, he said, the NCSM, which comes under the umbrella of ministry of tourism, had also supplied exhibits to countries like Israel, Turkey, Bangladesh and Singapore.
A large-scale project is also in offing in Mauritius.

He revealed that neighbouring countries like Bangladesh and Nepal had also approached the NCSM for developing museums in their countries.

"Rather than full-fledged museums, many of the countries are asking for exhibits to various themes," said the NCSM Chief, who was here for the inauguration of ‘hall of aerospace’ at the Nehru Science Centre at Worli here.

The exhibition was inaugurated on Wednesday by the world-renowned aviator and Raymond Ltd’s Chairman-Emeritus Vijaypat Singhania.

The NCSM currently runs about 28 science centres across the country and also runs 22 museo-buses in several places to take science to the rural areas.
He said that on December 22 a gallery on bio-technology will be inaugurated at Kolkata. For the next year, two major projects involve the completion of galleries on pre-historic life and electronics at science musuems in Delhi and Bangalore.

Mr Mukherjee said that the planned expenditure sanctioned by the Centre to the NCSM is around Rs 6.5 crore and the non-planned expenditure is around Rs 13 crore, while for the new projects it may get Rs two to five crore as per the need. (UNI)

mars project

2007-11-30T23:23:00.001-08:00

Indian Planetary Society to screen names for mars project

MUMBAI, Jan 3/2004: Mumbai-based Indian Planetary Society (IPS) has been selected as the national coordinator by its US counterpart for the Red Rover Goes To Mars (RRGTM) project.
Joint initiative of the US Planetary Society, Lego Co and NASA, the project will allow children to play an integral, hands-on role in the NASA’s upcoming mars exploration rover 2003 mission set to explore the neighbouring planet in early 2004.

The IPS, headed by noted astronomer and former Director of the Nehru Planetarium here Dr J J Rawal, has been entrusted by the US bodies to select students for the project.

The RRGTM provides an exciting opportunity for students to participate in a Robotics Planetary Exploration Cission. To be selected for this, students born between September 1986-1990 have to enter into a worldwide astronaut on NASA’s mars exploration rover mission contest.

Dr Rawal said that in order to qualify for the RRGTM, a student will have to write an essay of around 1,500 words which should be submitted by this month-end. "It is an imaginative work," he said and added that students will have to imagine themselves as a scientist working on mars exploration rover mission.

The aspirants will have to explain in their essays as to how they would use the mars exploration rover over two martian days to explore one of the places on mars that has been visited before by Viking 1. The plan must include moving the rover, positioning the rover’s robotics arm, and taking measurements and images with its cameras and instruments.

"We expect at least 10,000 essays," he said adding that then the 100 shortlisted students will be called for presentations. "Based on the presentation we will select around four students who will be interviewed by the US organisations for final selection," he said.

Dr Rawal further said that under the project few students will be selected across the globe and they will actually work with NASA’s scientists at Jet Propulsion Laboratory, USA, for the mars exploration programme. (UNI)

mumbai pagoda

2007-11-30T23:20:00.001-08:00

A grand pagoda coming up near Mumbai

MUMBAI, Sept 29/2002: A 325-foot grand pagoda (pyramid), claimed to be the highest in the world, with a life of upto 500 years, is being constructed, adjacent to the Essel World at Gorai Creek here.

The golden coloured architectural and historical splendour is being constructed at a cost of Rs 40 crore and will be made of stone without any use of cement or iron.

The pagoda will have a hollow stone monument having octagonal base that rises externally, uninteruptedly and smoothly, into a needle at the top through a circular bell shape. It will house a meditation hall in which nearly 8000 Vipassana meditators can sit. It will also display galleries, giving details about the life and teachings of Buddha using the latest audio-visual technology.

The pagodas have been an integral part of Buddhist teachings with more than 15,000 pagodas having been in existance during the great saint’s time in different countries.
The structural engineer N R Verma, who is supervising the work, said that the monumental structure has been so designed that it was totally earthquake resistant. Mr Verma told UNI that the eleven acres of land just adjacent to the Essel World has been donated by Global Foundation of Essel World Chairman Subhash Chandra Goyal, to construct the pagoda.

Its structural design has been approved by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), mumbai. The construction started two years back and work till now has been completed upto ground level.

Apart from the main pagoda, four small pagodas each 60 feet in height, two administration blocks, a basement, exhibition gallery, parikrama path, four approach staircases and rain harvesting tanks will form part of the complex.

Mr Verma said the material used is purely homogeneous, isotropic and follows laws of elasticity. Since the structure is a monumental one, it was decided to carry out the analysis with best possible methods and best available software, he said. (UNI)

iaea

2007-11-30T23:12:00.001-08:00

Asia major growth market for nuclear power: IAEA chief

MUMBAI, Nov 16/2004: Asia has emerged as a strong growth market for nuclear power, International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Dr Mohamed Elbaradei has said.
The chief of the Vienna-based international nuclear watchdog said yesterday that by contrast, in western Europe and North America, nuclear construction had been relatively frozen, with the last plant completed being Civaux-2 in France in 1999.

Of the 27 units now under construction worldwide, he said, 19 were located in Asia, while 23 of the 28 reactors were to be connected to grids in the far east and south Asia.
Nine of the 27 units, with a total capacity of 4,460 mega-watts, were in India, he said addressing a gathering of nuclear scientists, technocrats and engineers at a seminar on ‘peaceful uses of nuclear energy: Meeting societal needs’ hosted by the Indian nuclear society.

However, there may be signs of renewed activity in Europe and North America with construction set to start next year on a 1,600 mega-watt pressurised water reactor (epr) nuclear plant in Finland.

France had also announced that it will begin construction in 2007 on a new EPR nuclear plant in Flamanville.

Mr Elbaradei said not every country shared the view that improved economies and safety performance warrant a revival of nuclear power,
This divergence of opinion was to be expected, he noted, as each country and region faced a different set of variables when choosing its energy strategy and such decisions could be made on a ‘one-size-fits-all’ basis.

Dr Elbaradei said a majority of public continued to support nuclear power expansion. In Switzerland, the electorate, by a two-to-one vote, rejected a phase-out of nuclear power.
Europe, received 30 per cent of overall electricity from nuclear power, yet, four western european countries - Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden — had nuclear phase-out policies in place and a large number of other European countries had stated policies against nuclear power.

The IAEA chief also pointed out that nuclear power emits no greenhouse gases. "The complete nuclear power chain, from uranium mining to waste disposal and reactor and facility constructions, emits only two to six grams of carbon per kilowatt-hour. This is about the same as wind and solar power, and well below coal, oil and even natural gas," he said.

Worldwide, if the existing nuclear power plants were shut down and replaced with a mix of non-nuclear sources proportionate to what now exists, the result would be an increase of 600 million tonnes of carbon emmited per year. "This is approximately twice the total amount that we estimate will be avoided by the Kyoto protocol in 2010", he added. (UNI)

lifeline express

2007-11-30T22:58:00.000-08:00

CHUGGING FOR LIFE

Mrityunjay Bose

Seven-year-old Vijay, a resident of Khalari in Bihar, had a dream. Dream of walking without help – he had contracted polio. He was the first patient to be operated on board world's first hospital train – the Lifeline Express - in 1991. He had contracted polio soon after birth, spent his first few years crawling on all fours, then attempting to walk again with home-made bamboo crutches, falling frequently, never safe to go anywhere unaccompanied. More than one-and-a-half decades later, now he walks without crutches, his leg supported in plastic calipers, which he swings at ease.

Mohit Ram, a barber from Bargaon village in the district of Durg, Madhya Pradesh has his joy tripled. Misfortune just struck his family 10 years ago when his second child was born blind. Subsequently, he had two more children both blind. Despite a meager salary Mohit Ram took his children wherever he could for treatment in vain. Finally, at a medical camp at Raipur he was firmly told by the doctors that he should not harbour any hope that his children may regain vision. He had no future for his children. When Mohit Ram heard about the Lifeline Express, he was reluctant to take his chance. However after much persuasion from his villagers, a few who had already benefited from the Lifeline Express, he took his three blind children to the surgical camp. On February 16, 1999, all the three children were operated for Extra Capsular Cataract Extraction with posterior capsulatomy with Infra Occular Lenses (IOL) on the right eye. They showed excellent recovery and were further operated on the left eye on February 20, l999. Today, Mohit Ram has his faith restored . All three of his children have a bright future with vision in both their eyes.

Vijay and Mohit Ram are not the isolated ones; there are several other examples thanks to the Lifeline Express, the hospital-on-wheels, and the first-of-its-kind of project in the world. The statistics of the Lifeline Express are staggering enough. Each of them represents a human being given a whole new way of life in a land where disability is often fatalistically accepted.

The Lifeline Express – a partnership of the Indian Railways and Impact India Foundation, has been serving the country for two decades against avoidable disablement. Till date, the Lifeline Express, has provided medical services to nearly 4,50,000 persons in remote and rural areas of India where medical facilities are almost non-existent.

For each health project the hospital train is parked at a railway siding for a period of 30-45 days and provides on-the-spot diagnostic medical and surgical treatment completely free of charge. The Lifeline Express Project has won international acclaim and several awards, including the United Nations Grand Award for Excellence in Public Service worldwide.

To mark the occasion in July this year, the Indian Railways handed over five new state-of the-art coaches for the lifeline Express, to Impact India Foundation. The new coaches are designed and manufactured by Integral Coach Factory, Perambur. It was launched in presence of United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Railway Minister Lalu Prasad. "It is a harbinger of hope for the poor," said Mrs Gandhi in New Delhi's National Rail Museum. In fact, the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation actively supports the Lifeline Express project.

"The old Lifeline Express hospital train comprising of four coaches will be placed on a plot of land given to Impact by the Maharashtra Government and converted into a stand-along hospital with all its expensive medical equipment for the benefit for the poor tribals in Thane district," informs Mrs Zelma Lazarus, the Chief Executive Officer of Impact India Foundation, located in Mumbai.

The train has virtually everything. One car of the Lifeline Express contains an operation theatre capable of handling three surgical procedures simultaneously. Another houses a small laboratory, a diagnostic centre and a 12-bed ward. All of the 20 to 3 doctors and nurses are volunteers. The train usually remains on one spot for six weeks – and in a year five to seven projects are held. The staff concentrate on common medical problems – cataract, deafness, cleft-lip or polio – all of which can be alleviated with simple surgery. "Its reach is unique and wherever we have gone we have received tremendous support," points out Mrs Lazarus. In fact, after the devastating earthquake in Gujarat in 2001, the train was sent there and rendered help to several people.

Impact India Foundation:

It is an international initiative against avoidable disablement and is the first, and most successful, of the worldwide network of 19 Foundations, promoted, but not financially supported, by three United Nations agencies: the United Nations Development Programme, UNICEF and the World Health Organisation. Impact India is a partnership of the Government, having been formed out of a United Nations General Assembly Resolution; therefore all projects of Impact India Foundation are in joint partnership with the Government, and local organisations. Impact India will do everything possible to ensure that the spirit of this partnership remains. Impact acts as a leader catalyst to bring together business houses, Non-Government organizations, the medical profession and the local community in rural health projects. Impact India has successfully implemented a range of disability preventive and corrective measures: immunization against Polio, Diphtheria, Whooping Cough, Tetanus and Measles, Guinea Worm eradication and Malaria Control.

How Lifeline Express Started:

"You know," India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru said one day, "Sometime you ought to use a train, the Indian Railways. It is most efficient and covers every village." When Panditji voiced himself to Sir John Wilson, a prominent British Advocate for the disabled, little did he realize that his words would some day germinate the concept of hospital-train. Subsequently, the leaders of Impact India took up the challenge and finally came out with the train in 1991.

A model to follow

The Lifeline Express, the world's first hospital on a train, has become a model for transfer of Indian appropriate technology to being replicated by similar projects in China, Zimbabwe and a hospital riverboat - "Jibon Tori", in Bangladesh. China is planning to roll out more such trains. China has made four such trains each comprising of 16 coaches and they are running across the country.

UNIQUE ENTRIES IN VISITORS BOOK:

" It was a great opportunity for me to see the Lifeline Express in action. I congratulate all those responsible for this wonderful service - for their dedication, commitment and efficiency. This is indeed a great boon to the poor patients. " – former Maharashtra Governor PC Alexander

" - Good Thoughts lead to Good Deeds - What Impact and other friends have done and are doing deserves emulation - in many more directions - strength in the elbows - Those who give their Money give much - but those who give their time give much more ! " –former Mumbai Sheriff Jehangir K S Nicholson

"I am delighted to be with the Lifeline Express again - a vehicle that will carry medical care of the highest quality to the people in remote rural areas. This Project is very close to the objectives of the RGF and therefore we are pleased to co-operate with Impact India in every way possible. My best wishes. " – Finance Minister P Chidambaram

" An excellent and very useful project practicably for the poor and deprived sections of society. I express my gratitude to all who are connected with it. " – former West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu

The services offered in the Lifeline Express are:

Restoration of movement to polio and orthopaedically affected persons by surgery and provision of calipers;
Restoration of sight through cataract operations and providing intra ocular lenses;
Restoration of hearing through surgery and supply of hearing aids;
Correction of clefts through surgery;
Counselling and referral services;
Follow-up of patients' progress through arrangements with local authorities;
Preventive services in the form of immunisation, administration of nutrients, and creating health awareness among the deprived in the neglected rural and semi-urban areas;
Opportunity provided to medical and other voluntary personnel to work in a unique field situation;
Teaching surgeons, working in smaller towns, the finer skills of micro-surgery ;
Training health workers, doctors and other non-government organisation's on various health issues.

* Lifeline Express, world's first hospital-on-rails chugged out on July 16, 1991.

* When the devastating earthquake struck Gujarat on January 26, 2001, the government hospitals in some places were affected and some were reduced to rubbles. The Lifeline Express arrived as Godsend. It was stationed in Anjar for quite some time.

* During the earthquake at Latur - more than one-and-a-half-decades ago, the magic train has rendered service.

* All operations are conducted free of cost.

* As regards the number of projects are concerned, it will soon hit a century.

* It has treated more than four lakh people.

(This story was first published in the Science Reporter)

(Mrityunjay Bose works as the Mumbai-based Principal Correspondent of The Maharashtra Herald, a daily from Pune. He address is 102, A-Wing, VK Tower, Evershine City, Vasai (East), Thane - 401208, email: mrityunjaybose@gmail.com)

dev anand-censor

2007-11-30T05:31:00.001-08:00

Dev Anand’s censor — a film within a film

MUMBAI, Apr 4/2001:

Evergreen hero Dev Anand’s latest film ‘Censor’, which attempts to bring to reality the day-to-day life of a film maker can be well described as a film within a film.

"It is a unique concept. It is a film within a film," says the 78-year-old energetic Devsaab, as he is popularly known in the film industry.

After an exclusive screening of ‘Censor’ last night for mediapersons at adlab theatre in filmcity here, he said, "I attempt to bring about the realities that a filmmaker faces in producing a film." The film will be released later this week.

Sporting a brown trousers, a pink shirt and a red pullover wrapped across his neck, Dev, who was at his usual best, said, "it is now for the people to see and judge how a film is made and what the Censor Board does."

Dev, who plays the lead role in the film, Vikram — a film director, says, "the film (Aane Wala Kal) which is directed by Vikram faces problems from the Censor Board, but he overcomes it —he goes to the public and the court and wins — this is all about the film."

‘Censor’ can be well described as a satire on film censorship in the country, its a theme about its vagaries and it’s double standards while censoring the films.

It’s fictionised characters revolved around the film (Aane Wala Kal) that gets stuck in censorship in its own country while it wins the ultimate called "Millennium World Academy Award" in the foreign language category in America, thus making the judge (Shammi Kapoor), when the producer of the film is fighting his case with the censor board, pass a critical judgement that the country needs to review its censor policy in the context of it’s fast development global proximity.

"We are now moving forward — I leave the audience with a thought," says Dev during a free and frank tete-e-tete with film journalists. "This is the reality. A filmmaker has to face it," he says.
"This is exactly what happens," says Dev, whose films earlier had run into censor troubles. Even Vikram, the role that Dev plays, receives an extortion threat. "I have shown this problem also. I have touched upon all aspects of film making in this movie," he said.

Dev who has written, produced and directed ‘Censor’, says, "I read a lot. National dailies as well as newspapers from abroad. This becomes a part of my thought process. I get to know more and more."

The film introduces four new stars in the film — Heenee Kaushik, Mohini Sharma, Raja and Vinay Anand.

‘Censor’ has a wide star cast including Shammi Kapoor, Hema Malini (who plays the role of Radha, director Vikram’s wife), Rehka (Regional Director of Censor Board), Amrish Puri and Jackie Shroff (members of the Board), Jonny Lever (Vikram’s first assistant), Raj Babbar (Public Prosecutor), Archana Puran Singh (Vikram’s co-producer based in US), Randhir Kapoor and above all an appearance by Govinda. (UNI)

barc+supercomputer

2007-11-30T04:28:00.000-08:00

BARC develops country’s fastest super computer

MUMBAI, Nov 1/2002: The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) has developed the fastest super computer of the country, its Director B Bhattacharjee said.

The 64-node Anupam P-IV parallel super computer giving, which has a sustained speed of 43 giga-flops (floating point operation per second), is 30 to 40 times faster than any other parallel supercomputer developed in the country, he said at the BARC Foundation Day celebrations this week.

The Super Computer was developed by P S Dhekne, officer-in-charge of the Computer Division of BARC, a winner of the Indian Nuclear Society Awards presented by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on Thursday.

Many leading institutions in India such as the aeronautical development agency, Indian Institute of Technology as well as the Department of Atomic Energy are finding the use of this super computer in solving various problems, he said.

The BARC, which is the premier nuclear research organisation of the country has also assisted other institutions, Mr Bhatacharjee said.

Nickel-titanium-iron shape memory alloy components developed at the BARC have passed all the stipulated air worthiness tests and have been successfully used in the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) flights.

The ADA has accepted the supply of these components for several aircraft. Software verification tools for verifying critical software for LCA has also been developed, Mr Bhattacharjee stated.

vikrant not to be scrapped

2007-11-30T04:19:00.000-08:00

Vikrant may not be scrapped

MUMBAI, July 9/1999 (UNI) — The Maharashtra Government has decided to prevent the scrapping of the country’s first aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant, by providing Rs 6.5 crore for repairs of the decommissioned ship.

The state government would also examine the feasibility of converting the ship into a war memorial, Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray told newsmen here today.
Vikrant was auctioned for Rs 5.8 crore to Haryana Shipbreakers yesterday. The auction was carried out by the Metal Scrap Trading Corporation (MSTC).

After visiting the decommissioned ship at Lion Gate, South Mumbai, Mr Thackeray said a final decision would be taken within a month. The ship had saved the nation in a crisis (during the 1971 Indo-Pak conflict) and hence it should become a war memorial for the fallen heroes, he added.

He said he had spoken to Defence Minister George Fernandes, who promised that Vikrant would not be sold. Chief Minister Narayan Rane, who was also present on the occasion, said the state government would provide Rs 6.5 crore to the Navy for feasibility and repairs of the vessel.
Meanwhile, sources at the MSTC, which conducted the auction, said that the auction did not mean that the ship has been sold. The final decision rests with the naval headquarters.

flamingoes in mumbai

2007-11-30T04:08:00.000-08:00

Flamingoes flock to Sewree mangroves of Mumbai

MUMBAI, Nov 27/2001: Come october and the majestic flamingoes flock the metropolis, nesting in mud-flats until the onset of monsoon.

First sighted here in 1994, the greater flamingoes and lesser flamingoes are seen in the sewree mangrove park on the eastern sea-face of Mumbai. On an average, more than 5,000 flamingoes arrive every year, said Issac Kehimkar, an official of the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS).

The water level at the Sewree-Mahul stretch is perfect for these birds, as they prefer Alkaline and saline water which is abundant in prey.

Since the location where they are found falls in a high-security zone, the area has a port, oil refinery and defence installations, they are left undisturbed, he said. The birds come from various parts of the country, particularly the great Rann of Kutch in Gujarat.
Mr Kehimkar said the arrival of flamingoes has spurred tremendous enthusiasm among ornithologists, environmentalists, photographers and Amateur bird-watchers.

Stating that the BNHS was closely working with the Mumbai port trust to promote the region as a prime eco-tourism spot, he said the BNHS was organising a ‘flamingo watch’ on December 12 at Sewree.

Flamingoes, considered one of the most primitive among living birds, is believed to have come into existence 50 million years ago.

Some palaeontologists and ornithologists believe that they are the link between the family of birds comprising storks, herons, ibises, spoonbills and cranes and the group that consists of ducks, swans and geese.

While the greater flamingoes (phoenicopterus roseus) are one of the tallest birds found in India with an average height of nearly four feet, the lesser flamingoes (phoenicopterus minor) compensate for their shorter stature with their richness of colour.

Kehimkar, a wildlife photographer and known for his research on butterflies, says it is a delight to see the flamingoes feeding. "They have a long tubular neck at the end of which is their amazingly structured bill with lamelle to strain the muddy ooze and retain the food particles," he told UNI.

While the greater flamingoes have light pink legs and a few streaks of pink on their feathers, the lesser flamingoed have deep pink feathers and almost red legs and a black bill. In the twilight, they look like flames from where the name has been derived.

Both the species are found mainly in the great Rann of Kutch, point Calimere in Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu, Chilka in Orissa and Sambhar in Rajasthan.

But of late, it has also been found in sewree and in other parts of Maharashtra like Solapur and Aurangabad, but in very few numbers.

Soda lakes, salt lagoons and tidal mud-flats form the habitat of the flamingoes for their food chiefly consists of curstaceans, worms and blue-green algae, which are plenty in Alkaline waters.
They nest in these mud-flats, creating miniature craters in which they lay one or two eggs and the males and females care for the chicks together.

Flamingoes feed the chicks with a red-coloured milk secreted by a pouch in their gullet. (UNI)

karwar project

2007-11-30T04:06:00.000-08:00

Several warships to be shifted to Karwar

MUMBAI, Dec 15/2001:

Several warships of the Western Naval Command (WNC) would be shifted from Mumbai to the new naval base at Karwar on the Karnataka coast by 2005-06, when the first phase of project ‘Seabird’ is completed.

"The work is on in full swing and we expect that some of the ships of the WNC will be shifted to the new base by 2005-06," senior Indian Navy officials have said.

WNC officials, who have been directly involved with the ‘Seabird’, said the project would cover 8,000 acres and occupy around 28 km of the coastline, and the deep draught would facilitate berthing of larger vessels.

According to officials, the rationale behind setting up a new futuristic naval base with state-of-the-art facilities on the western coast was its strategic location.
"The WNC is headquartered in Mumbai. We have two ports, the Mumbai Port and the Nahva Sheva Port, at a very close distance. One aim is to decongest the shores," an official said.
Moreover, the rapidly expanding Indian navy would need more space, with the Government sanctioning a 30-year submarine building programme, along with new ships such as project 17 (stealth ships) and project 15-alpha.

"We are expanding and will need berthing space and also dock and repair facilities, and hence the new base at Karwar will go a long way," the officials stated adding that in a short span of time, the fleet would almost be doubled. The new Harbour would be about 500 nautical miles away from the wnc headquarters in Mumbai, home to most of the ships and submarines, including aircraft carrier INS Viraat, the Delhi-class destroyers and a mix of warships.

The officials said construction of the new base would involve three 5.5 km breakwaters, quarrying granite rocks, dredging of 15 million cu mt of seabed and reclamation of 50 hectares of land.

The two breakwaters in the first phase include 1.7-km-long northern breakwater to Anjadiv island and a 3.2-km-long southern breakwater to Agra Cape.

The Karwar base would have facilities to "handle a large number of warships and aircraft" along with a dockyard for refit and modernisation of ships and submarines. The first phase of the project is scaled a little over Rs 1,200 crore.

An airstrip is expected to come up in the second phase of the project, besides housing facilities, hospital and other allied activities.

With the establishment of a new base, the forces would be in a geographically better position to monitor and defend crucial maritime and wartime shipping routes on the Arabian sea, a source said adding that Karwar’s hilly terrain would also be a boon. (UNI)

sea harriers

2007-11-30T03:54:00.000-08:00

November 30, 2006
From: Mrityunjay Bose

Sea-Harrier to last for more than five years: Navy

MUMBAI: The state-of-the-art Sea-Harrier fighter jets of the Indian Navy would last for more than five to six years beyond the expected life of the lone aircraft carrier INS Viraat, from which these majestic British-origin aircraft operate.

"We expect that it would last more than five years," said Vice Admiral Sangram Singh Byce, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Western Naval Command (WNC), the sword arm of the three-dimensional blue water Indian Navy.

Talking to reporters on board INS Viraat, Vice Admiral Byce confirmed that Soviet-era Kiev-class aircraft carrier Gorshkov, which would be renamed Vikramaditya would arrive in 2008 and its component of frontline Russian origin MiG-29K fighter aircraft. "The top-of-the-line MiG-29K will augment the air arm of the Indian Navy," he said and added that it is a multi-role aircraft and can perform various functions like land-attack, ship-attack and air-defence. "We will get a quantum jump once these are inducted," he noted.

On the other hand, he added, the indigenous aircraft carrier, which is being built at Cochin Shipyard Ltd, would be commissioned in 2012. This ship, WNC sources said, would be able to accommodate different types of aircraft which include the Sea-Harriers, MiG-29Ks and the naval variant of Tejas, the indigenously-developed Light Combat Aircraft (LCA).

The technology demonstrator of this naval LCA would be ready by 2008 and the Indian Navy hopes that by the time the indigenous carrier rolls out, these multi-role aircraft would be ready for commissioning.

While Sea-Harriers are short-take-off and-vertical-landing aircraft, the MiG-29K operates on the concept of arrested-recovery. The naval LCA would be capable of operating both ways. As far as Gorshkov is concerned, its flight deck is being modified in Russian shipyards, so that it can operate planes of different origins. This too is expected to have a ski-jump like INS Viraat, which the Indian government purchased from the Britishers in the eighties.

A senior official told the Herald: "The Sea-Harriers are also undergoing midlife upgrades, to increase its life span." He said that at a time two aircraft are being sent to Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, Bangalore, and in the next few months all these aircraft would undergo an upgrade and would also be fitted with some new systems, to match the technology of date.

As far as capabilities is concerned, said Vice Admiral Byce: "We are adopting two to three methods – first induction of new platforms, secondly deploying innovative tactical means and upgrading the existing military hardware."

He also revealed that two IL-38 SD aircraft, which returned from Russia post midlife upgrade, have not been fitted with state-of-the-art systems.

(This report was first published in The Maharashtra Herald, Pune)

uss trenton

2007-11-30T03:51:00.000-08:00

September 5, 2007

From: Mrityunjay Bose

Huge warship Trenton sails in today

MUMBAI: A giant-sized US-origin amphibious ship INS Jalashva – earlier USS Trenton – arrives in this island city quietly today adding to the blue-water capabilities of the Indian Navy. Jalashva in Sanskrit means sea horse – and the huge amphibious transport dock displaces nearly 16,500-tonnes and possess multiple capabilities.

She touches Mumbai, the homeport to Western Naval Command (WNC) ships and submarines, in the next few days; she would sail for the Vishakhapatnam, headquarters of Eastern Naval Command (ENC).

"INS Jalashva is arriving on September 6, however, it would be a very low-key event, in view of the controversies involving the ongoing Indo-US naval exercises," a senior official of the WNC, the sword arm of the Indian Navy, told 'The Herald', on the eve of her arrival to this island city.

"We are not planning any grand event – because of the present circumstances," the officer said, however, said that senior officials of the WNC would receive the ship off the Mumbai harbour as she sails into the Indian waters. "This is for the first time a US ship had been transferred to the Indian Navy," the official said.

The Leftist allies of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh are protesting against the multilateral exercises (which include India and United States) – taking forward the protests against the proposed civilian nuclear deal between the two countries. The exercises are being held in Bay of Bengal.

Also it is now clear that it would not be home-ported in Mumbai or INS Kadamba, the new state-of-the-art base at Karwar. "Instead of the western sea-board which overlooks the Arabian Sea, she would be based in Vizag because of the growing importance of Bay of Bengal," the officer said.

The Indian Navy took possession of the ship on January 17 last in Norfol, Virginia after signing the transfer agreement by Commodore P Murugesan, Naval Attache, Embassy of India, Washington DC and the Rear Admiral Garry E Hall of US Navy. The ship was commissioned by Indian Ambassador to United States Ronen Sen, into the Indian Navy on June 22 at the Naval Station Norfolk.

INS Jalashva, the Austin-class landing platform, now becomes the second largest ship in the Indian Navy after INS Viraat, the 24,000-tonne aircraft carrier. Besides the ship, the Navy would also get US-origin 4H-53 helicopters. The 35-year-old is a vital element of sea control. It can carry nearly 1,400 marines besides its own complement of over 450. Six H-3 Sea King maritime utility transport helicopters will be operated from the ship.

(This report was first published in The Maharashtra Herald, Pune)

kirch launched

2007-11-30T03:40:00.000-08:00

Indigenous warships join fleet

MUMBAI, Jan 22/2001 (UNI) — The indigenously designed guided missile destroyer “INS Mumbai’’ and missile corvette “INS Kirch’’ today joined the Indian naval fleet. The warships were concurrently commissioned by Maharashtra Governor Dr P.C. Alexander.

INS Mumbai is the third of the “Delhi class’’ of guided missile destroyers built by Mazgaon docks and represents the cutting edge of combatant technology in the country.

The heavily armed ship has a formidable firepower with a weapon package comprising surface-to-surface missiles, surface-to-air-missiles, radar controlled guns, torpedoes, anti-submarine rockets and chaff decoys. In addition, the ship carries a state-of-the-art sensor package of modern radars, sonars and electronic warfare suites.

INS Kirch is the second ship of the Kora class of guided missile corvettes, which embodies the lethal cutting edge technology. With her arsenal of surface-to-surface missiles and guns, she is a potent fighting unit. She is also capable of launching surface-to-air-missiles and is fitted with a close range gunnery system with a high rate of fire for self-defence.

This weapon package is supported by state-of-the-art sensors and has electronic warfare suite. This compact fighting machine also has the ability to operate the force multiplier Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) and the Chetak Helicopters.

Addressing a large gathering of naval officers, members of the consular corps and other distinguished guests, the Governor said that the commissioning of the two frontline warships of the Indian Navy — INS Mumbai and INS Kirch, together was a rare event and a matter of pride for both the Navy and the people of Mumbai.

Complimenting the Navy’s ongoing indigenisation efforts, the Governor said that the Navy’s responsibility had increased from the maritime perspective and the improved professional competence.

“The indigenisation process had helped in achieving self-reliance and also saving foreign exchange’’, he observed.

The Navy should not rest on its laurels, Dr Alexander said and added that efforts should now be to export the products and skills.

Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) Admiral Sushil Kumar said that the two frontline ships, will add punch to the Navy’s capabilities. “Indian navy was a stabilising force of the region and it stood for peace and harmony. The international fleet review (IFR) was a symbol of Indian Navy’s endeavour to extend the hand of friendship across the globe,’’ the Naval Chief added.

INS Mumbai is commanded by Captain Sanjeev Bhasin, who is a specialist in navigation and aircraft direction. He was the Commissioning Commanding Officer of the first indigenous missile corvette INS Khukri and has also commanded the missile destroyer INS Ranjit.
INS Kirch is commanded by Commander Amar Kumar Mahadevan, who is also a specialist in navigation and aircraft direction. His previous sea appointments include command of INS Allepey.

State Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Naval Command Vice Admiral Madhavendra Singh and other senior naval officials were present on the occasion. At a function on board the INS Kirch, Dr Alexander released the first day stamps issued by the postal department in commemoration of the commissioning of the two new ships.

INS Mumbai will be administered by the western fleet while INS Kirch will join the eastern fleet after the international fleet review. “Mumbai’’ is capable of carrying two sea king helicopters or the indigenous Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH) on board, providing the much needed “extended reach’’ to a modern surface combatant.

These helicopters armed with missiles and torpedoes as well as sensitive sensor suites are formidable force multipliers. With her fine lines and proven seaworthiness synergising with the weapon and sensor suites, INS Mumbai is a frontline warship and lives up to her motto “I am invincible’’.

INS Mumbai is not the first ship to be named after one of the greatest maritime hubs of the world. The first warship to be named after the economic nerve centre of India, the “honourable Company’s Ship Bombay’’ was built at the Bombay docks and commissioned by the then Governor of Bombay in 1739. It is noteworthy that the 10th warship to be named after the Mumbai that has been built at the Mazgaon docks.

The Kirch has Otomelara gun which has a range of 120 km and calibre of 76.2 mm. It can fire 120 rounds per minute. The ship is also equipped with the uran surface to surface missiles, which is near equivalent to American “Harpoons’’ missiles.

The shoulder fired anti-aircraft missiles are also fitted to the warship. There are two 6x30 guns (six barrels and 30 mm) with a range of four km and pick surface/air targets as well as submarines.

The other modern equipments, on board kirchare, +e (for detection of radar), liynx (fire control for Otomelara guns and 6x30 guns), Ajanta mark 2 antenna (warning of incoming aircraft/missile/ship), ovents (magnifying site of observing the target through Otomelara gun), toted (towed torpedo decoy, which gives a false alarm and is released after siting an enemy torpedo advancing towards the ship).

INS Mumbai is fitted with advanced towed aray sonar for detection of submarine and HUMSA (hull mounted sonar advanced).

air show planned

2007-11-30T03:31:00.001-08:00

Men, machines to take to skies in biggest ever air show

MUMBAI, Oct 11/2004:

Machines of formidable power, manoeuvred by men with cutting edge skills, will take to the skies in the biggest ever air show in the city on October 17.
Frontline aircraft of the IAF including the Sukhois, MiG-29s and the recently-acquired Il-78 refueller, in addition to a boeing and an airbus of Air India, will participate in the air show titled ‘Subroto Mukherjee and JRD Tata Memorial Events’.

The aviation Regalia marks the birth centenary of JRD Tata and the golden jubilee of Mukherjee’s taking over as the IAF Chief.

Being jointly organised by the Indian Air Force, Air-India and the Maharashtra Government, the one-hour aerial display at Marine Drive is dubbed to be of greater magnitude than the 1998 Trishakti exercise and the air show held during the 2001 international fleet review.

As part of the event, an air awareness campaign Mumbai will begin in the metropolis on October 14 with an exhibition of Indian Air Force war machines at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport.

IAF and Air India sources told UNI here today that 47 aircraft and helicopters will take off from the Mumbai Airport, Juhu Airport and even from Nashik, Pune and Bangalore as part of the event.

Mumbai Police have chalked out a detailed security and traffic plan while the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will clear out the garbage and litter. Efforts are on to reduce the hazard posed by birds.

The best will run special buses to the Marine Drive Aka Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Marg, popularly referred to as the Queen’s Necklace.

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) will close the air space over Mumbai between 1600 hrs and 1700 hrs on October 17, while the busy Marine Drive will be closed for vehicular traffic during the period.

The air show, being conducted by Gandhinagar-based South Western Air Command (SWAC), will begin with a shower of petals by two Chetak multi-role helicopters followed by another three bearing the national flag, the IAF ensign and the Air-India flag.

The skies will then be witness to an MiG-27 aircraft carrying out a photo reconnaissance sweep capturing on camera the Marine Drive.

A boeing 737-400 commecial liner will fly low, followed by the ‘Jumbo’ event in which airbus 310 will be escorted by two state-of-the-art Su-30s. It is for the first time in the aviation history of the country that the Maharajah’s planes will fly side-by-side the superior fighters.
Thereafter, there will be a ‘small boy’ formation involving an an-32 and two dorniers which will be followed by the IAF displaying its latest acquisition, the Il-78 in-flt refueller, providing fuel to two Su-30s.

The MiG-29s and the Sukhois will then engage in a ‘Mock Aerial Combat’ and the Russian-origin fighters Su-30 Mki will carry out low level aerobatics. Jaguars will also display their skills.
Advanced light helicopters ‘Dhruv’ commanded by the ‘Sarang’ team and the ‘Surya Kiran’ involving Kiran trainers, would display a series of impressive manoeuvres carried out with clockwork precision.

The two teams recently returned from a successful demonstration tour of south east Asia.
The concluding performance will be by the ‘Akash Ganga’ team of sky-divers of the IAF, who after free falling from 8,000 feet will land at the Brabourne stadium.

On October 14-15, IAF’s military hardware including Jaguars, MiG-29s, Mirage-2000, MiG-21, MiG-27, Su-30, helicopters, missiles and mobile radars will be on display at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport.

An air warriors symphony orchestra will serenade an audience of over 15,000 at the Brabourne stadium on October 14 and special invitees on October 17 at the Capt Mulla Auditorium at Navy Nagar here.

In the international fleet review held on February 17, 2001, around 50 aircraft had participated which included the ‘Super Cobra’ manoeuvre by Sukhois. The Indian Navy’s Sea Harriers, Coast Guard’s Dorniers and helicopters like Chetaks, Sea Kings and Kamovs had also taken part in the exercise.

The then President K R Narayanan had reviewed the IFR on February 16 in which more than 70 ships from 25 countries participated.

The Trishakti exercise on April 12, 1998 was also unique in many ways and Sukhois, MiG 21s, Jaguars, Sea Harriers, Sea Kings, Chetaks, Kirans and MiG 29s participated. (UNI)

maritime diplomacy

2007-11-30T03:28:00.000-08:00

Indian navy touches new high in maritime diplomacy

MUMBAI, Sept 29/2004:

The Indian Navy has achieved tremendous success in the area of maritime diplomacy with a series of joint exercises after the 2001 international fleet review including that with the navies of the United States, the United Kingdon, France, Russia and China.

The recently-published Indian maritime doctrine also highlights this fact, saying that in times of peace, the Indian Navy has been a powerful instrument of the nation’s foreign policy, while in times of conflict it is the foremost expression of the country’s maritime power.

"The Indian Navy plays a major role in the nation’s diplomatic interest," Admiral Madanjit Singh, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Western Naval Command (WNC), told UNI today during an interaction after visiting Singapore Naval Chief Admiral Ronnie Tay inspected a Guard of Honour at the Ins Angre here.

Admiral Singh, one of the top naval commanders, said that in the recent past, close to two dozen joint exercises have been held with different navies of the world besides Indian ships calling on foreign ports and vessels of other countries coming to India.

While joint exercises with the US Navy, royal navy and French navy have almost became a routine annual affair, last year joint exercises were also held with the Chinese and the Russians, Defence Ministry officials said here today.

Besides, training ship INS Tarangani carried out a global circumnavigation mission and returned early this year.

Admiral Singh says such exchanges are very important as "one gets to know each other well" and also enhance cooperation in several areas including "intelligence sharing".

Thrust was given to maritime diplomacy when the indian navy hosted the international fleet review in february 2001 off the mumbai harbour in which around 70 ships from more than 25 countries participated.

At the international fleet review, INS Viraat, the lone aircraft carrier of the Indian Navy, was the star attraction.

In the past, two French carriers — FNS Foch and FNS Charles De Gaulle — have called on Indian ports. The regular exercises with the US (Malabar) and France (Varuna) have generated tremendous response among the respective forces. Next month, joint exercises of the malabar series have been planned off Goa and a US nuclear submarine is expected to take part in it.

Defence Ministry officials also point out that in May 2004, in response to a request from the Government of Mozambique, two ships INS Sujata and INS Savitri went to Maputo to provide security at the world economic forum meeting. Two Indian ships were also deployed in Maputo last year when Mozambique sought assistance for the second African union summit.

In Bay of Bengal off Chennai during April this year, an Indo-UK joint exercise was held at which the royal navy was represented by HMS Exter, a missile destroyer, HMS grey rover, a tanker and lynx helicopters. The war games included anti-submarine warfare, underway replenishment, interdiction operations, cross-deck landing by helicopters and day/night tactical manoeuvres.

The last Varuna exercise off Goa with the French saw the participation of FNS Charles De Gaulle and a submarine while the Indian Navy deployed one ship each of Delhi, Brahmaputra and Godavari class besides a Shishumar-class submarine.

Last year, joint exercises were carried out off the coast of Shanghai in the China sea and the Indian warships included guided missile destroyer INS Ranjit, guided missile corvette INS Kulish, replenishment tanker INS Jyoti. The Chinese complement comprised frigate Jia Xing and tanker Panyang Hu.

The exercise encompassed communication procedures, helicopter operations and search and rescue operations including casualty evacuation drills from distressed ships. (UNI)

naval plans

2007-11-30T03:22:00.000-08:00

Govt examining 15-year ship building programme

MUMBAI, Oct 30/2002:

The Central Government is examining a proposal for an indigenous ship building programme to be undertaken over a period of 15-year, Navy chief Admiral Madhvendra Singh said today.

He, however, did not divulge details of this programme during an informal chat with reporters after inaugurating a day-long conference on "human resource in ex-defence personnel" organised by the Directorate General of Resettlement and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

The Centre had earlier this year sanctioned a 30-year-long submarine building programme, Admiral Singh noted.

He said that the first of the indigenous stealth warships currently being built at the Government-owned Mazagon Docks Ltd (MDL) here will be commissioned by 2006. These ships incorporating the latest design will form an important part of the future fleet of the blue-water force.

"In future we will have more such stealth ships," the chief of Naval Staff said, adding that building of such advanced warships reflects the quality of the defence shipyards in the country.

The keel of the second stealth warship of P-17 class will be laid tomorrow, while the production of the third one will start in March next year, Commodore (retd) H S Kang, the Chairman and Managing Director of MDL informed. The MDL has over the past few years, rolled out three Delhi-class destroyers (P-15) for the Indian Navy. INS Delhi, INS Mysore and INS Mumbai are now part of the naval fleet.

He said that building of P-15-alpha was also in progress. "The P-17 class of stealth ships are our own design and will be the future warships," he said.

When asked about the Indian Navy’s proposal to acquire ex-Soviet aircraft carrier ‘Admiral Gorshkov’, he said that negotiations for the same were in progress between the Indian and Russian Governments.

Admiral Singh said that the ship is in a good condition. "negotiations were in progress. Let us hope for the best," he added. Currently the Indian Navy is left with one aircraft carrier —Ins Viraat only following the decommissioning of Vikrant, which served the Navy for over 36 years.
Indian Navy officials said that an Air Defence Ship (ADS) will also be built indigenously and is expected to be commissioned by 2010.

When asked about the conversion of Vikrant’s into a full-fledged maritime-museum-cum-helipad, he said that the proposal is pending with the Maharashtra Government.

However, pending Vikrant’s full-fledged conversion into a museum-cum-helipad, the Navy has already put the museum in place and the ship is moored off the Gateway of India. Earlier addressing a large gathering of serving and retired officers of the armed forces and the captains of the industry, he said that ex-servicemen must be preferred by corporates when they seek a second career after retirement.

Admiral Singh said that annually 50,000 to 80,000 people retire from the armed forces depending on the recruitment of previous years. "They are highly experienced and motivated people," he said pointing out that the age profile of the services is young and hence people retire a bit early.

"As far as the navy is concerned, the sailors are all matriculate. Around 85 per cent of the men in white have passed at least 10 plus 2 with technical and non-technical qualifications and the officers are well qualified with leadership qualities," he added.

The Navy chief said that the people in the services are real professionals be it in any field.
"The qualities are imparted right at the training level. These include character, leadership, physical fitness, discipline and command," he noted.

Admiral Singh said that the service can be summed up in acronym ‘Pride’ — P for patriotism and loyalty, R for resolve and fighting spirit, I for integrity and honesty, D for duty and commitment and E for example (leading by example).

He recalled that as a young officer, he was taught to have a foresight, plan accordingly and then execute and initiate follow-up actions. "These are qualities of a manager," he observed. (UNI)

navy modernisation

2007-11-30T03:16:00.000-08:00

Navy sails course towards modernisation, 23 ships to join in 4 yrs

MUMBAI, Mar 19/2003:

The Indian Navy is modernising itself and as part of this move, 23 ships are expected to be commissioned in the next four years enhancing its sea control capabilities, top naval officials said here today.

Under the programme, ‘Admiral Gorshkov’, the decommissioned Russian aircraft carrier is expected to join in the next 50 months. Besides, orders have been placed for three Delhi-class ships under project 15-alpha and under project 17, three Shivalik-class stealth frigates are being built at the Mazagon Docks Ltd.

Vice Admiral Madanjit Singh, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Western Naval Command (WNC) said that a new Naval Academy for Training of Officers is expected to be commissioned in north Kerala. More than 500 officers can undergo training in this facility.

Rear Admiral Vijay Shankar, the Flag Officer Commanding, western fleet, said that the new acquisitions will significantly enhance the sea control capabilities of the Indian Navy.

They were interacting with this UNI correspondent on board Delhi-class destroyer ‘INS Mumbai’ off this island city where it hosted a ‘day-at-sea’ for Gujarat Governor Kailashpati Mishra.

Admiral Singh said that work at the new naval base ‘seabird’ at Karwar in the Karnataka coast is progressing at rapid pace and few ships from the WNC — the sword arm of the Indian Navy — will be moved there by this year end. A new dry dock is also being built at the naval dockyard in Mumbai which will help dry-docking big ships of the size of the aircraft carriers.

Admiral Madhvendra Singh, the Chief of Naval Staff, earlier this month, had said that the "first steel" for the new Air Defence Ship (ADS) is expected to be cut by this year end and the ship is expected to be available in the next seven to eight years. (UNI)

admiral groshkov

2007-11-30T03:08:00.000-08:00

Deal on Admiral Gorshkov may be signed soon

MRITYUNJAY BOSE

MUMBAI, Nov 22/2002:

The deal on acquisition of ex-Soviet aircraft carrier ‘Admiral Gorshkov’ may be inked soon with the Indian Navy officials hoping high on the forthcoming visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"The Russian President is expected in India next month and we are hopeful that there will be something positive during this visit," a senior Indian Navy official told UNI here.

A series of talks between the Indian and Russian Government officials have been held in this regard and the acquisition may take a final shape soon, the official said, adding that with the ‘Admiral Gorshkov’ joining the fleet, the capabilities of the Indian Navy will increase manifold.

Admiral Madhvendra Singh, the Chief of Naval Staff, during his visit to this island city, earlier this month, has said that the aircraft carrier was in a good condition and expressed the hope that the Indian Navy will get it.

The need for an aircraft carrier for the Indian Navy is felt for quite some time, especially after the decommissioning of INS Vikrant in 1997, which has now been converted into a maritime museum, currently moored off the Gateway of India.

The lone aircraft-carrier of the Indian Navy is INS Viraat with the integral British-made sea-harrier aircraft flying from aboard this floating airfield.

The keel of the indigenious Air Defence Ship (ADS) — a smaller version of an aircraft carrier — is expected to be laid soon at the Cochin shipyard, Indian Navy sources said.

"Ideally the Indian Navy should have three aircraft carriers," a senior Navy official said, adding that while one carrier each can be deployed on the Western and Eastern seaboards another could be taken up for refit. The INS Viraat had undergone a major refit couple of years ago.

With INS Viraat at its disposal and the possibility of joining of ‘Admiral Gorshkov’ and the development of ADS — by 2010, the Indian Navy may have three aircraft-carriers.

The Russian heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser will have to undergo a major refit programme before she joins the fleet. Interestingly, the Indian Navy is the only Navy in Asia which operates an aircraft-carrier.

However, the Indian Navy has now the choice to choose the aircraft that it would operate from on board the ‘Admiral Gorshkov’ and the two shortlisted ones are Russian-made MiG 29k and the French-made Rafales.

Indian Navy officials said wishing anonymity that in case the Government goes for the Russian fighter jets, it would not need much of changes to be made on the flight deck of ‘Admiral Gorshkov’ (ex-baku). The displacement of the Russian carrier is around 40,000-tonnes and the deck is 273-metre-long.

In New Delhi recently, Defence Minister George Fernandes said the negotiations for the acquisition of aircraft carrier ‘Admiral Gorshkov’ from Russia were going on at a fast pace and he was hopeful that the deal would be finalised soon.

He has said it was desirable that the deal be finalised soon.

The Defence Minister concurred with the view that the Indian Navy needed two aircraft carriers.

Negotiations for the carrier have been going on for several years with Russia. Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Madhvendra Singh, who inspected ‘Admiral Gorshkov’ during his recent trip to Russia had said that its hull was in good shape. (UNI)

nalanda-excavation

2007-11-30T01:26:00.000-08:00

November 29, 2007

New excavations planned in Nalanda

BY MRITYUNJAY BOSE

MUMBAI: A big revival of the internationally-acclaimed heritage site Nalanda in Bihar is currently underway and new excavations are being planned from February next year, Dr Ravindra Panth, Director of Nava Nalanda Mahavihara, Nalanda University, said.

“What we know of Nalanda is just 10 per cent, we want to know the rest 90 per cent, and in this quest the new excavation will be carried out by the Archeological Survey of India (ASI),” Dr Panth, who was on a day-long visit to Mumbai to address a lecture organized by the Bamiyan Buddha Foundation, told ‘The Herald’ on Wednesday.

“We are going to revive the entire thing,” he said and pointed out that his department has already started physically mapping Nalanda and neighbouring Rajgir. At the same time, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will also map the area using its remote sensing satellites. “It is a big project,” he said.

Last year, he said, during a satellite mapping of Hampi (in Karnataka), a complex of temples were notices – and archeologists are now working to unravel more details. “We too will be benefited from the satellite mapping,” Dr Panth said.

While the remains of Nalanda – the ancient town is spread over 16 sq kms – we have so far excavated only 1.6 sq kms. “The scope is very wide. We are expecting that during the next excavation we may find some gateways. Nalanda was a great learning centre. And such a huge learning centre ought to have big gateways,” said Dr Panth, who was accompanied by Charles Allen, an acknowledged authority on British, Indian and South Asian history, and in Mumbai lectured on ‘Rediscovering the Buddha’.

In fact, there were references that nearly 200 villages supported this learning centre. “Last year during an excavation, a mud-stupa was found nearly two kms away from the main site,” he said, and pointed out that new evidences that are coming to light are taking the history of Nalanda to the time of Lord Buddha.

The present campus of the Mahavihara is 90 km from the metropolis of Patna , situated on the southern bank of the historical lake, Indrapuskarani. Close to the northern bank lie the ruins of the ancient University of Nalanda .

Some of the aims of the Nava Nalanda Mahavihara is are to develop an institute similar to that of the old Viharas, where teachers and students lived together devoting themselves to studies and higher academic pursuits for the promotion of higher studies and research in Pali language and literature and Buddhism through Tibetan, Sanskrit, Chinese, Mongolian, Japanese and other Asian languages; to maintain a modern and rich library in order to facilitate teaching and research.

(This report was first published in The Maharashtra Herald, Pune)

vikrant heritage museum

2007-11-29T04:22:00.000-08:00

Grand old lady Vikrant may finally become maritime museum

MUMBAI, Dec 13/2003:

The decomissioned aircraft-carrier Vikrant may not end up in a scrap yard with the Centre and State deciding to jointly fund its conversion into a full-fledged maritime heritage museum.

The grand old lady of Indian Navy, which was decommissioned on January 31, 1997 had faced a rough weather, virtually entering the jaws of a scrapyard, as the Maharashtra Government inspite of its promise could not convert her into a full-fledged museum largely due to financial constraints.

The Western Naval Command (WNC), the sword arm of the Indian Navy, had converted her in to a floating museum pending the Maharashtra Government’s decision to permanently berth her and convert her into a museum-cum-helipad.

Addressing a news conference here, BJP member of Parliament, Kirit Somaiya, said that the Defence Ministry will contribute all the expenses of converting the ship into a museum and docking her at a permanent place, while the State Government would provide the necessary infrastructure which includes approach roads to the oyster rock site off the Mumbai harbour, the proposed final berth for Vikrant .

While the cash-strapped Congress-led Democratic Front (DF) Government has agreed to shell out Rs 15 crore towards the infrastructure development, Defence Minister George Fernandes has agreed to provide Rs 42 crore for the purpose, Mr Somaiya said.

Mr Somaiya said that the decision was taken Thursday night at a meeting convened by Mr Fernandes at New Delhi, attended by State Chief Secretary Ajit Nimbalkar, Metropolitan Commissioner of MMRDA Arun Kumar Mago, Vice-Chief of Naval Staff, Vice-Admiral Arun Prakash, Defence Secretary Ajay Prasad and Minister of State for Tourism Bhavna Chilakia.
According to Mr Somaiya, a joint trust comprising representatives of the navy, defence, tourism, State Government, other agencies and experts will be formed to monitor the project. The Tourism Ministry, according to him, will promote ‘Vikrant’ as a "patriotic tourism" project.

He said that the Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) had prepared a proposal for the project and the annual expenditure of operation, running and maintenance will be over Rs 4.5 crore while the receipt from sale of tickets, souvenirs and shops was expected to be over Rs 5.21 crore.
He said that the commercial use of the project will be decided after the second phase of the project. The modalities will be worked out before January 26.

The proposal to convert her into a museum was mooted by former Maharashtra Chief Minister Manohar Joshi, who is now the Lok Sabha Speaker.

However, the Navy had decided to auction it twice in 1999 and 2000, but Shiv Sena Chief Bal Thackeray intervened and met Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Madhvendra Singh, then a Vice-Admiral and Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Western Naval Command and halted it.
The Centre also sanctioned some funds to Shiv Sena-BJP alliance Government headed by Narayan Rane, in 1999 for her upkeep.

When the Congress-NCP Democratic Front (DF) Government came to power, there was stiff opposition from the fisherfolk towards the project, however, the Deputy Chief Minister had held a series of meetings with them and resolved the matter. During this time, the then Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, during an official visit to USA, had visited a museum aboard a carrier, and expressed confidence that the museum could be built on ‘Vikrant’.

However, when Sushilkumar Shinde took over the reins of the state, he hurled the ball back into the BJP-led Central Government’s Court.

The 20,000-tonne aircraft carrier Vikrant played a glorious role during the Indo-Pak war in 1971 that led to the liberation of Bangladesh, liberation of Goa in 1962 and the Kutch operations in 1965.

‘Vikrant’ which was formerly the royal navy ship ‘HMS Hercules,’ joined the Indian Navy in the sixties. Earlier seahawks used to fly from aboard the carrier, but in the eighties the flight deck was redesigned and made adaptable to jumpjet seaharriers. (UNI)

dinosaur egg

2007-11-27T00:45:00.000-08:00

Dinosaur eggs found in MP village

MUMBAI:

Dinosaur eggs, dating back to nearly 65 million years, have been found at Bagh village in Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh, according to noted geologist Prof Atul Joshi. Prof Joshi, who is a sedimentologist with the Department of Geology at M.S. University at Baroda, said he had found eight to nine eggs in this small village over the past decade. He started his research in 1992-93 in the region. — UNI

encounter specialists

2007-11-26T23:53:00.000-08:00

Class of encounter specialists

MUMBAI, June 8/2009:

They are the ‘encounter specialists’ of the Mumbai Police from the class of ‘83 and their lives have even featured in Bollywood movies.
Senior Police Inspector Pradeep Sharma, who last week eliminated his 100th criminal in an encounter, is in fact from the 1983-batch, which had produced outstanding officers like Vijay Salaskar and Praful Bhosale.
Sharma, Salaskar and Bhosale are the trio who are the leading ‘encounter specialists’ of the commercial capital.
The three-some, who head separate Crime Branch-CID units now, have over the 10 years, gunned down more than 350 notorious criminals of various gangs and syndicates like that of Chhota Shakeel, Chhota Rajan, Amar Naik, Abu Salem, Ijaz Lakdawala and Hemant Poojari.
With an excellent information gathering network and dare-devil attitude, their teams had played a key role in gathering information about the spate of blasts in 2002-03 in which more than 80 persons were killed and 200 others injured. Their investigations led to the arrest of the main culprits.
While Sharma, who has earlier headed the Andheri Crime Intelligence Unit (AIU) and the Anti-Extortion Cell (AEC), is now nos posted at the Kandivli Crime Branch-CID, his batchmates of the nashik police training academy — Salaskar and Bhosale head the Bandra and Ghatkopar units respectively.
The recent films on encounters that have got appreciable attention are ‘Encounter’, ‘Kagaar’ and ‘Aab Tak Chappan’.
In fact, through "Encounters" which are now known as "Police Operations", they and their key men like Police Inspector Daya Nayak and Sachin Vaze and other officers like Dilip Patil and Police Inspector Ravindranath Angre of Thane Anti-Extortion Cell, have wiped out the underworld from Mumbai and neighbouring thane district.
The first encounter in Mumbai took place in January 1982 when dacoit-turned-gangster Manya surve was killed at Wadala area. In the early nineties, former ACP A A Khan’s team killed kive gangsters including Maya Dolas in the Lokhandwala shoot-out.
In April 2003, Mumbai police added another feather to their caps when they took on terrorists. Three members of the Lashkar-e-Toiba were killed in an encounter at Goregaon suburbs here by the team of Sharma. Daya Nayak, who had now been shifted to the Charkop Police station in the wake of allegations that he had links with underworld, was part of that team.
Vaze, another encounter specialist, who too was part of Sharma’s team was arrested in connection with a custody death. Though now on bail, he is currently under suspension following allegations that one of the accused in the recent blasts Khwaja Yunus died in his custody. Earlier it was claimed that the accused fled after the jeep in which he was being taken to Aurangabad met with an accident on the Ahmednagar highway.
Information gathering is their main forte and according to police sources, within minutes they can confirm which gang is involved in a shoot-out.
Salaskar shot into fame in 1997, when he killed Amar Naik in an encounter that virtually crippled the activities of the Arun Gawli gang.
Arun Gawli, who has never been convicted, had floated his political outfit, Akhil Bharatiya Sena (ABS), and even contested the Lok Sabha elections, but failed. In fact, Salaskar was deputed as a special officer at Mumbai south central on the day of elections to monitor the activities of the Gawli gang. A fearful Gawli did not even come out of his bastion Dagdi chawl to vote.
In fact, the names of Pradeep Sharma, Vijay Salaskar, Praful Bhosale, Daya Nayak, Sachin Vaze, Dilip Patil and others like Rajan Ghule, Rajan Pillai, Anant Kenjale and Arun Bourde Chill the spines of underworld elements. (UNI)

k n singh dead

2007-11-26T23:45:00.000-08:00

Actor K.N. Singh dead

MUMBAI, Jan 31 (UNI)/2000—

Legendary film actor K.N. Singh who dominated the Hindi silver screen for more than six decades, died here this morning following a prolonged illness.

He was 91. He is survived by his son Pushkar, a TV film director.
He breathed his last at his residence— "Bhasin Nivas" in Matunga, family sources said.

Kirshan Niranjan Singh popularly known as K.N. Singh had carved a niche for himself by playing the role of villain in his inimitable manner. He acted in more than 250 films.

He came to Bombay in 1937 giving up profession of a lawyer at Dehra Dun. He was discovered by thespian Prithviraj Kapoor. A chance meeting with Kapoor during one of his visits to Calcutta paved his entry into the film industry.

He started his career by acting in "Bhagban". His other films were "Howrah Bridge" Raj Kapoor’s "Aawara", Kishore Kumar’s "Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi", and "Bees Saal Baad". He also acted in "Chhabili" which was made by Shobana Samarth to launch her daughter "Nutan".

His last films were "Ajooba" and "Kaliya" in which Amitabh Bachchan had played the lead role. Known for his roaring voice and expressive eye, he has been immortalised by acting in the roles of dons and villains.

indian navy-bluewater

2007-11-26T23:36:00.000-08:00

Acquisitions in 2003 mark navy’s fledging bluewater capacities

MUMBAI, Dec 19/2003: The Indian Navy moved towards becoming the most powerful naval force in the Indian Ocean, with the fleet augmenting its power-projection capabilities after the induction of several advanced ships as well as indicating the finalisation of the long-standing deal to acquire its second aircraft carrier.

The Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Madhvendra Singh told UNI in New Delhi that the Navy, moving towards a true blue-water capacity, would need a strength of at least 200 ships, including three aircraft carriers, about 20 frigates and destroyers each and the requisite number of support and auxilliary craft.

The Navy, at the end of the year commanders’ conference, disclosed that its priority was to streamline its personnel policy to augment its technical and aviation manpower, in order to make optimum use of the advanced equipment entering service.

With an array of ships like the Krivak-class frigates — the only ones of their kind in the region — entering service, while the advanced versions of Delhi-class destroyers and the stealth-feature Shivalik-class frigates are under construction indigenously, the maritime balance is tilting towards the Indian side, Navy sources claim.

The recent visit by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to Russia and the delegation level talks indicated that the much-awaited deal to acquire ex-Soviet aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov will be inked soon. Earlier in the year, Defence Minister George Fernandes and Admiral Madhvendra Singh had also visited Russia.

Price negotiations for the Kiev-class aircraft carrier are in the final stages and once the deal is signed, the ship , after refitting to meet Indian requirements, will be available to the Indian Navy in the next four to five years.

Currently, the Indian Navy has only one aircraft carrier ‘INS Viraat’, the only one in Asia, and the need for the second carrier is being felt for quite some time as the country has a long coastline and vital maritime interests.

The Navy is also proposing to have its own Air Defence Ship (ADS), a smaller version of an aircraft carrier. Intended to be constructed at the Cochin Shipyard Ltd, the designing process is still on.

The major equipment acquisition this year comprised the the two Krivak-class ships, built at the Russian ‘Baltiskiy Zavod’ shipyard. The ships with partly stealth features — ‘INS Talwar’ and ‘INS Trishul,’ which had been delayed following some problems in the weapon systems, have arrived and the third one in the series ‘Tabar’ is expected to be here by this year-end or early next year.

The first batch of four KA31 Kamov helicopter arrived from Russia in April and they have joined the western fleet. Some of these will join aircraft carrier ‘INS Viraat’.

More of indigenously developed Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) will also be inducted into the Navy in the near future and work to develop the naval variant of Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) is also in progress. This will make the air arm of the fleet much stronger.

The blue-water capabilities of the three-dimensional force will be further enhanced when by 2006, the three stealth ships of the Shivalik class will join the Navy. According to Admiral Singh, these would be the future ships of the Navy and stealth adds to the element of surprise, essential in modern warfare. The first of these ships ‘INS Shivalik’ was launched by Mr Fernandes at the Mazagon Dock Ltd in April.

In the last seven years, three destroyers of the Delhi-class — ‘INS Delhi’, ‘INS Mumbai’ and ‘INS Mysore’, which are the frontline ships of the Indian Navy had been built by Mazagon Dock Ltd, the premier defence shipyard of Asia and more ships of this class and more advanced ones at that, will be built by the shipyard in the next few years, according to information elicited from defence sources.

The Government, has meanwhile, also approved a 30-year Submarine Building Programme heralding a new era of defence indigenisation which is being considered a watershed in the indigenisation programme. ‘Brahmos’, the supersonic cruise missile jointly developed by India and Russia is expected to be inducted in the next few years.

As a major shift in its maritime policy, the Government has also decided to lay thrust on joint collaborations with other countries for production of naval vessels and equipment as well as promote defence exports. Some of these countries are Myanmar, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Maldives and Sri Lanka.

‘Seabird’, the Karwar Naval base in Karnataka coast is expected to be operational by 2005 and some ships of the Western Naval Command (WNC) will be shifted there. The project taking shape in a sprawling area, is estimated to cost around Rs 1,300 crore and the draught will be much deeper here so that bigger ships like Admiral Gorshkov could be accomodated.

Meanwhile, planning for a new dry dock at the nearly three-century-old naval dockyard in Mumbai is also on and it will be able to accommodate bigger ships. The Directorate General for Naval Projects has made elaborate plans for it. Currently there are four dry docks and around 20 ships could undergo refit at a given point of time.

The joint exercises this year with the American, Russian, Chinese, French and British Navies and the masted sail boat INS Tarangini’s global circumnavigation have marked the greater degree of achievement in terms of inter-operability and diplomatic initiative, Naval sources added.
Besides visits by several top Navy officials to various countries, the Western Naval Command (WNC) — the sword arm of the Navy, hosted a special guest — Prince Charles, the heir to British throne, who holds the rank of an Honorary Vice Admiral.

There was also a change of guard in the top hierarchy, with WNC Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Vice-Admiral Arun Prakash, who succeeded Vice Admiral John Colin De Silva as Vice Chief of Naval Staff in October and was replaced by Vice Admiral Madanjit Singh, at that time the Flag Officer Commanding Southern Naval Command. Vice Admiral Singh was replaced by Vice Admiral Yashwant Prasad, who was Chief of Personnel at the Naval Headquarters at New Delhi.

The Navy picked up another plum post with Vice Admiral Raman Puri, at that time Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Naval Command, taking over as the second Chief of the Integrated Defence Staff (CIDS). He was replaced in his command by Vice Admiral O P Bansal, hitherto head of the Tri-Service Command at the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
The defence of Mumbai, the HQ of the western fleet, being a prime concern for the armed forces in view of vital installations around the metropolis, a joint full-fledged mock drill to protect the city and its surroundings from a possible attack from a neighbouring country was staged.

For the first time, it was a red alert at both the ground level air defence and the air component as the deadly multi-role Suhkoi’s and interceptor Jaguars scrambled from the Mumbai and nearby bases to launch an attack on the incoming enemy planes with the ground batteries positioned in a mock rehearsal, conducted by the maritime air operations wing of the IAF.

India’s first aircraft carrier ‘Vikrant’ was decommissioned in 1997 and converted into a maritime museum amidst doubts over whether the Navy would be able to sustain the cost of maintaining it. Defence Minister George Fernandes recently assured that Central Government would pitch in to support the museum and the Maharashtra Government too has consented to share the cost.

The Indian Navy’s diving and special operations team and Archeological Survey of India’s (ASI) Marine Archaeology Team unearthed remains of a 18th century ship ‘Princess Royal’ in what is being described as the deepest underwater exploration carried out in the sub-continent. The wrecked ship was discovered in December last year near Bangaram islands off Lakshadweep islands. (UNI)

gangrene cure

2007-11-26T23:32:00.000-08:00

New surgical cure for gangrene

MUMBAI, Sept 10/2001:

Gangrene, which usually results in amputation, can be cured by replacing the infected arteries, claims a Mumbai-based doctor.
Using the ‘revascularisation operation,’ a technique pioneered by her 12 years ago, Dr Tejinder Kaur Sahi has salvaged many gangrene-affected limbs.

Peripheral vascular disease or gangrene, occurs when blood supply to the limbs is blocked and muscles and other tissues suffer from lack of oxygen.

Dr Sahi told UNI that she has devised three new techniques for treatment and management of limb disorders.

An honorary surgeon at the J J Hospital in Mumbai, she says she creates a new route for blood supply in the affected limbs by using blood vessels from the abdomen.

"When a limb is struck with vascular disease, it can be saved by ‘revascularisation of omental transfer’. Later, if the second foot also develops an infection, the same procedure can be repeated.
"In cases where both legs are infected at the same time, the ‘new operation of bilateral simultaneous revascularisation of both limbs’ technique is used," she explains.

One of her first patients, railway employee Suresh Shastri, lost one of his legs to gangrene when he was 26. Two years later, his other foot got infected and Shastri developed suicidal tendencies after all treatment failed.

On examination, Dr Sahi found that there was no blood flow from the thigh to the toes. She performed the revascularisation operation, replacing the arteries of the leg with those from the abdomen. Twelve years down the line, Shastri says he feels fit.

He travels by train, goes to work and does his chores effortlessly. "Even if I am hurt in the leg, it heals fast," he adds.

Octogenarian Mohan Bhatia underwent a similar surgery eight years ago. A diabetic with cardiac problems, he developed gangrene from the knee down. He was operated upon by Dr Sahi, and his infection has completely healed.

Dr Sahi says he has got a good response from the medical community, with surgeons who are aware of her treatment recommending patients to her. "They are supportive and appreciative," she adds.
Awareness of certain symptoms can help in early detection of gangrene. Discoloration of toes, a wound that refuses to heal and ulcers on the leg are indicators of such infection.

Earlier, doctors prescribed painkillers, alcohol and sedatives to provide relief from the pain. Finally, the infected limb was amputated for permanent relief.

"An awareness of symptoms will ensure that people seek help in the early stages of the disease. This definitely makes a difference in the end result and the extent of tissue loss and duration of post-surgery treatment and management," Dr Sahi adds.

If caught early, gangrene can be cured even without surgery, she says.
Dr Sahi, who has designed her own instruments for treatment, says that since the technique does not involve handling of diseased and blocked arteries, the chances of embolisation and myocardial infarction do not arise.

Dr Sahi was awarded the best research paper at the world congress 2000 of the International College of Surgeons at Suntec City, Singapore for her innovative technique and also felicitated in the country and abroad for her contribution.

"My mission is to prevent amputation of limbs. I believe in putting my soul in other people’s soles," she quips. (UNI)

koyna-sea floor

2007-11-26T23:24:00.000-08:00

Quakes in Koyna is because of sea-floor spreading: Expert

MUMBAI, Sept 6/2000: The sea floor in the Arabian Sea is expanding by five cm a year leading to increasing seismic activity in the Koyna region of western Maharashtra which has seen more than a lakh tremors in the past 35 years.

According to a leading seismologist, the Koyna region is prone to the effects of sea-floor expansion along the carsburg ridge in the arabian sea-Indian ocean.

Dr J G Negi, scientist-Emeritus at the Hyderabad-based National Geological Research Institute (NGRI) says "the energy emanating from the sea-floor spreading is distributed to the rift zones in the Koyna-Warna region and the Himalayan area".

The region was hit by an earthquake measuring more than five cm on the richter scale yesterday. The first major earthquake in the region was on December 11, 1967, which claimed more than 100 lives and rendered several thousands homeless.

"There is a cyclic burst of seismic activity in the region," says Dr Negi referring to the frequency of earthquakes in the region. "Because of fault zones in the region this has become a highly seismic place."

During the past 35 years, the Koyna region was hit by 1,02,715 tremors, of which about 80 had an intensity of more than four cm and ten of them above five cm. This makes the western ghats the most seismogenic region of the state.

Yesterday’s quake is a clear indication of the rising seismic activity in the region, says Dr Negi, a recepient of the coveted Shantiswaroop Bhatnagar Award for excellence in science. The state capital, Mumbai is merely 250 kms away from this seismic zone.

According to experts and geophysicists, Maharashtra occupies the central-western portion of peninsular India, technically an intraplate continental area. Research carried out by various agencies reveal that most of the state is covered by deccan traps —as sequence of basalt flows formed 65 million years ago.

Though the area was earlier known to be seismically stable, it was shattered by the frequent earthquakes and the worst-ever Latur earthquake of September 30, 1993. This led to the review of seismic history which found that more that 12 districts are earthquake prone.

Thus, tectonic stability in the Deccan plateau may appear to be inconsistent with observed level of seismicity — this apparent contradiction reflects the primitive knowledge of seismogenesis in stable continental region and is at the root of problem of risk assessment of an earthquake, according to a paper on risk analysis prepared as part of the maharashtra earthquake rehabilitation programme under the Maharashtra disaster management plan.

In 1973, Dr Negi along with Dr M Krishnabrahmam carried out a study and concluded increase in seismic and geo-thermal activities in the region. An alarming factor found out during the study was the proximity of several dams to the epicentre.

The Deouskar Committee report of 1995, which studied the pattern of seismicity in the state said that the earthquakes in Maharashtra show a minor alignment along the west coast of western ghat region.
Seismic activity has also been noticed near Ratnagiri, Bhatsa and the Surya areas of Thane district as well as Mumbai.

The striking characteristic of this narrow region is its alignment with the hot-spring belt. "It appears that off coast activity is associated with submerged faults along the western coast of Maharashtra," the report had said.

This report and the observations made by Dr Negi matches that the frequent earthquakes in the region is because of sea-floor spreading, making further studies essential. (UNI)

tipu sultan-kalam

2007-11-26T23:23:00.000-08:00

Tipu Sultan had mastered rocketry, says Kalam
MRITYUNJAY BOSE

Mumbai, July 2. (UNI):

The development of Indian rockets in the 20th century can be perceived as a revival of a tactical dream of 18th century warrior Tipu Sultan, reckons NDA's Presidential nominee Dr A P J Abdul Kalam.

Dr Kalam, considered father of Indian missile programme, says that when Tipu Sultan was killed, the Britishers captured more than 700 rockets and sub-systems of 900 rockets in the battle of Turukhanahally in 1799.

In his autobiography "Wings of Fire" which is selling like hot cakes since he was nominated for the post of the President, Dr Kalam, who is a Bharat Ratna, says: "Tipu's army had 27 brigades, called Kushoons, and each brigade had a company of rocketmen called Jourks." Showering praise on Tipu Sultan, he said that these rockets were taken to England by William Congreve and were subjected to what we call "reverse engineering" today.

"There was of course no GATT, no IPR Act or patent regime... With the death of Tipu, the Indian rocketry also met its demise -- at least for 150 years," he writes. He also points out that Tipu Sultan was also revered in the US and recalls his experiences at NASA. When he went to the Wallops Flight Facility at Wallops Islands in East Coast, Virginia, which was a base of NASA's sounding rocket programme, he saw a painting displayed prominently in the lobby there. But what was it? It depicted a battle scene with rockets flying in the background.

"A painting with this theme should be the most common place thing at a flight facility, but the painting caught my eye because the soldiers on the side launching the rockets were not white, but dark-skinned, with the racial features of people found in South Asia," he says.

"One day," Dr Kalam, the President-in-waiting writes, "My curiosity got the better of me, drawing towards the painting. It turned out to be Tipu Sultan's army fighting the British. "The painting depicted a fact forgotten in Tipu's own country but commemorated here on the other side of the planet. I was happy to see an Indian glorified by NASA as a hero of warfare rocketry," he recalls. Historians mention that rockets helped the Mysore army to achieve the famous victory over the Britishers in 1780. The army was led by Hyder Ali, the bold officer and his son Tipu. A celebrated victim of the rocket attack was Colonel Arthur Wellesley (later Duke of Wellington and hero of Waterloo).

In the fourth Anglo-Mysore war of 1799, Wellesley had a nasty encounter in a mango grove just outside Srirangapatna. He lost his way, several of his men killed and the rest retreated in disorder. Historians also point out that the Rocket Corps of Mysore army was 5,000 strong in Tipu's time. Historians say that his rocketmen were skilled in adjusting the elevation of the rocket depending on its distance from the target and they launched rockets rapidly.

Tipu Sultan was a technology buff and promoted the manufacture of rockets and other novel devices in his territories. The rockets' range was typically 2.4 km, an outstanding performance of its time, attributable to the iron and the casing. Indian iron and steel had been the best in the world and permitted increased bursting pressures with their propellant packing, the chroniclers have noted. http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/holnus/02021406.htm

astrosat

2007-11-26T23:19:00.000-08:00

Astrosat to give researchers an edge

MUMBAI, Nov 6/2002:

Astrosat — the astronomical research satellite to be launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will add punch to the research activities in the country, leading astronomers and researchers feel.

The satellite will provide data for astronomical studies and the other payload including an all sky X-ray monitors and an ultra violet/optical telescope system, according to ISRO sources.

Besides the ISRO, the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and Indian Institute of Astrophysics and Raman Research Institute are involved in developing the satellite which will be launched in the next few years.

The launch will be yet another milestone in the astronomical research in the country.

The announcement of the launch of ‘Astrosat’ was made some time back by ISRO Chairman Dr K Kasturirangan and the process of developing this indigenous satellite is currently underway in Indian space research labs.

Astronomy is the oldest scientific discipline humankind has known and it has, alongwith astrophysics, come a long way since independence and the proposed launch of Astrosat is seen as yet another step towards the quality research in India. Prof Rajesh Kochhar, director of New Delhi-based National Institute of Science, Technology and Development Studies, welcomed the ISRO step and said that such an exclusive satellite for astronomical research will boost research activities in the country.
City-based astronomer Dr Bharat Adur of the Nehru Planetarium here, also said that such a satellite will be a major advantage for astronomers and astrophysicists of the country.

Researchers said that with the launch of this advanced satellite, astronomical research institutions can now look beyond advanced telescopes for their finds.

Prof Kochhar, who has authored several books on astronomy including ‘Astronomy in India: a perspective’ along with Dr Jayant Narlikar, said "modern astronomy which came to India in tow with Europeans, will go beyond the age of telescopic astronomy and will be yet another major breakthrough in modern astronomy."

Some institutes of optical astronomy in India have carved a niche in the arena and these include Vainu Bappu observatory, Kavalur of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Nisamiah and Japal-Rangapur observatories and department of astronomy of Hyderabad-based Osmania University, Uttar Pradesh State Observatory, Naini Tal, Gurushikar Infra-red Observatory, Mt Abu, Kodaikanal Observatory of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics and Udaipur Solar Observatory.

Radio astronomy has also developed in India at a similar pace. The institutes include the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics of the TIFR at Pune, the Raman Research Institute at Bangalore and the Physical Research Lab at Ahmedabad.

The history of space astronomy in India is also five decade old, but the Astrosat will herald a new era of research. Gamma-ray astronomy in India has also advanced considerably. The nuclear and high-altitude research laboratories of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre at Gulmarg has come a long way since the sixties, he added. (UNI)

vintage car rally

2007-11-26T23:15:00.000-08:00

Vintage car used in Gandhi film steals limelight

MRITYUNJAY BOSE

MUMBAI, Jan 20/2003:

A vintage car used by Sir Richard Attenborough for making his famous movie ‘Gandhi’ stole the limelight at a rally organised by the Vintage and Classic Car Club of India and the Sahara Group here yesterday.

The car — a 1919 ‘Fiat’ was the oldest car to participate in the 125-km rally from the Flora Fountain to Amby Valley Sahara lake city near Lonavla — and it completed the entire distance. "She is my second wife," said Peter Cajetan Travasso, the proud owner of the vehicle.

Travasso said it was his father, who bought the car merely for Rs 300 some six decades ago and it was the same car which was used in the film ‘Gandhi’ to shoot period locations. "It was used to provide a backdrop of pre-independence era near the Bhayender Creek, where the ‘Salt Satyagraha’ was filmed," he told UNI.

"I love this car very much," said Travasso, now in his seventies. His car was the oldest car to traverse 125 kms via Mumbai-Pune expressway which included a ‘Ghat’ section.

The car has also participated in many other rallies in the past and has secured priority ranking. The second oldest car to participate in the rally was a ‘Steyr’ (1922) owned by Vivek M Pittie. The rally, flagged off by Bollywood’s latest sensation Vivek Oberoi and Miss India Neha Dupiya, had Jackie Shroff as one of its surprise visitors.

Seventy-six cars and jeeps participated in the event, which was divided into three sections — Vintage upto 1940, post-war classics 1941-1960 and recent classics after 1960.

Commenting on the occasion, Nitin G Dossa, secretary Vintage and Classic Car Club of India, (VCCCI) said "this was a wonderful opportunity for vintage and classic car lovers and the people from all walks of life, to get together and celebrate the timelessness of these rare beauties and at the same time enjoy the thrill of the race."

VCCCI the vice-president of the Western India Automobile Association (WIAA) Deepak Kapadia said "it is a unique event," adding such rallies are unique opportunity to display vintage cars and the heritage attached to it.

Parvez Damania, a director in Sahara India Parivar said "we chose to start the rally from Flora Fountain in the fort area of South Mumbai as it was the perfect backdrop for a heritage site surrounded by old British time buildings."

His car - a ‘buick roadmaster’ also entered the race and successfully completed the distance. A 1929 ‘Rolls Royce’ owned by Fali E Dhondy also participated in the race. (UNI)

anti collision device

2007-11-26T23:11:00.000-08:00

Device to prevent train collisions

MUMBAI, Oct 16 /1999(UNI) —

In a revolutionary breakthrough which promises to change the safety scenario in the Railways in the whole world, the Konkan Railway has developed an innovative device which will prevent collision of trains.

According to Konkan Railway Managing Director B. Rajaram, the device,
called as the anti-collision device (ACD), will prevent “Khanna’’ and “Ghaisal’’ kinds of railway accidents in future and render railway travel safer.

The first laboratory prototype of the device has been made ready by the Konkan Railway within a record 40 days of the launching of the project.

raja ramanna dead

2007-11-26T23:08:00.000-08:00

Nuclear scientist Raja Ramanna dead

MUMBAI, Sept 24/2004:

Eminent nuclear scientist and former Minister of State for Defence Raja Ramanna, who played a key role in the Pokhran I nuclear test, died here this morning following a brief illness.

He was 79.

He is survived by his wife, a son and two daughters.

Bombay hospital sources said Ramanna, who was admitted to the intensive care unit in a critical condition on Monday, passed away at 0315 hrs.

Ramanna was the chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) during 1983-87 and the Director of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre during 1972-78 and 1981-83.

He played a key role in the May 18, 1974 peaceful nuclear test in the Pokhran ranges of Rajasthan.

In 1990, he was elected to the Rajya Sabha and the scientist-statesman was the Minister of State for Defence.

Ramanna had been a consistent campaigner for the important place to be accorded to nuclear power in energy planning.

In matters concerning nuclear weapons and the non-proliferation treaty, he had clearly formulated views that moulded the national policy.
Ramanna completed BSC honours in Physics from Christian college, Madras in 1945 and left for the UK to work in the field of nuclear physics at the king’s college, London for his Doctoral Degree, which he was conferred with in 1949.

He was one of the earliest to Join Dr Homi J Bhabha — father of India’s nuclear programme — at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. Later, he moved to the atomic energy establishment.

During his long and distinguished career with the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), he was associated with several important events besides the Pokhran I nuclear test.

He was a reactor physicist in the team under H J Bhabha when India’s first research reactor was commissioned on August 4, 1956.

Ramanna was present in his capacity as AEC Chairman when the fast breeder test reactor attained first criticality at Kalpakkam on the night of October 18, 1985.
Ramanna moved to New Delhi in 1978 as scientific advisor to the Defence Minister. Before his return to dae three years later, he introduced many significant changes in the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO).

In 1981, he became the secretary in charge of research and development in the DAE. Dr Ramanna played a leading role in organising physics and reactor physics programmes at Trombay.

It was at his initiative that the construction of the variable energy cyclotron was taken up in 1970.

During the 80s, Ramanna took the initiative in setting up the centre for advanced technology in Indore. (UNI)

mumbai mint

2007-11-26T22:39:00.000-08:00

Mumbai Mint

Mumbai, October 31/2004
The Mumbai Mint, one of the important landmarks of the country's commercial capital, completed 175 years yesterday. The Mumbai Mint has been serving the nation since the 19th century, meeting not only the nation's demands for coins, but also of some other countries of the world. Coins for Pakistan were also minted here during the Partition period. — UNI

netaji's daughter

2007-11-26T07:56:00.001-08:00

Netaji shook hands with nazis to rid India of British rule

MUMBAI, Mar 22/2000:

BY MRITYUNJAY BOSE

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was not a fascist or a nazi but had to shake hands with them in his mission to set the country free from the Britishers, says his daughter Dr Anita Bose-Pfaff.

The Professor of economics and expert in international relations also pointed out that her father was not a Communist as, he had formed the Forward Bloc—rather than aligning with left forces after leaving the Congress following differences with senior leaders.

"Netaji was a devout Hindu and believed in spiritualism and his ultimate aim and goal was to serve the nation," she said at a function organised by the Maharashtra unit of All India Forward Bloc and Netaji Subhas Research Institute at the Dr D Y Patil Academy of Education. "He was a tremendous personality and a totally secular man," she added.

Dr Bose-Pfaff, to a query on partition, said, "he would never had allowed this to happen." he and Mahatma Gandhi could have prevented partition. " this would also have averted the Kashmir problem," she said.

To a query, whether, Subhas Babu is still alive as it is believed, she said, "I do not think so" . However, she said that the recent commission set up by the Centre to probe the details of his death would come out with concrete evidence. "We cannot go commissions after commissions," she said. Earlier to unravel the mystery two commissions were set up — the Shah Nawaz Commission and Khosla Commission.

"I do not think he is alive, "she said. Had he been alive—he would have been 104- year- old today. She said if Netaji would have survived the aircrash at Taihoku airport—he may have been taken as a prisoner by Soviets and may have died a miserable death. "I hope it did not happen that way," she said.

Dr Anita was barely a little over two-year-old on August 23, 1945—when Netaji disappeared. Subhas last saw his daughter when she was only a few days old. He left his wife Emile and the little daughter in Germany. "Netaji’s memory will always be there in the minds of the people," she said. "He was an institution by himself."

She said that if her father would have been alive, he would have surfaced. However, she felt that the third Commission set up by the Government—will try to go into all the records and unearth the mystery of her father’s disappearance. "People like Netaji never die—they remain in the hearts of the people forever." (UNI)

cloning-debate

2007-11-26T07:54:00.000-08:00

Cloning of human embryo raises debate

MUMBAI, Nov 27/2001:

The successful cloning of a human embryo in the United States has once again raised a debate with doctors not only claiming that it will throw open a new era of research and help in curing several diseases, but also warning that it would have dangerous consequences.

"Scientifically it is a good exercise — but it may lead to multiple problems," feels noted Cardiologist Dr B K Goyal, Head of Department of Cardiology of the Bombay Hospital and Research Centre here. It would help in curing cardiac disorders but the ethical issue is the core of this scientific exercise, he said.

Pioneer of In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) in India and Head of Inkus IVF center here, Dr Indira Hinduja said that stem cell research is a cutting edge technology that has "definite potential" if it is ethically channelised.

Stem cells are cells which have the ability to give rise to specialised cells — which means specialised organs of the body could be created through them.

However, stem cell research has raised many ethical questions on the prospect of using human embryos in research and making human flesh profitable as its outcome.

But cloning and stem cell research has many advantages also. Cellular damage caused by Alzheimer and Parkinson’s disease could be restored, spinal cord injury could be repaired, paralysis due to stroke or accidents could be reverted and healthy cells of the required type could be made to replace dead or malfunctioning tissues.

Even the advanced Cell Technology Inc based in Worcester, Massachusetts, which cloned the single six-celled human embryo said that the experiment will lead to tailored treatments for diseases ranging from Parkinson’s to Juvenile diabetes. Eminent Neurosurgeon Dr Atul Goel said such an extensive research needs to be channellised properly. Stressing that every branch of science has its advantages and disadvantages he cited the example of nuclear science and said, "It can generate power and can make bombs too".

Speaking about the alternate use of this research, Dr Goel, who is attached to the Kem Hospital, said, "today tigers are on the verge of extinction. Either accept it or use cloning to create new tigers so that future generations could know about this majestic animal."

Researchers are of the opinion that stem cell research will also revolutionise the entire process of drug testing. Medicines could now be tested using human stem cell lines and only side-effect free drugs would go for further testing on animals and humans.

Stem cell research could also help in understanding the events that occur during human development. Experts said that it would help in identifying the factors involved in cellular decision making processes that result in cell specialisation.

Since birth defects normally occur due to abnormality in cell specialisation and during cell division, it was felt that a clearer understanding of the processes involved would enable doctors to help prevent those errors, experts said.(UNI)

high sky videos

2007-11-26T07:47:00.000-08:00

Nehru Planetarium will have all-sky videos

MUMBAI, June 22/2003:

The Nehru Planetarium at Worli here will soon have new digital equipments in place making education in astronomy more thrilling, its Director Dr Piyush Pandey said today.

"We are in the midst of the installation of the new equipment," he said. The equipments had been designed and made by Evans and Sutherland of America and will be the first of its kind in the country.

Dr Pandey revealed this to UNI at the sidelines of the three-day second International Conference for Science Communicators, that concluded at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre here today.

He said that the equipment is capable of running all sky videos and is more advanced than the conventional equipments. However, he said that education in astronomy will be the focus of the planetarium.

Earlier presenting a paper at a discussion on ‘astronomy education through planetaria’, he said that soon there may be a new generation of planetarium that will have a dome and seats with no equipment in sight.

"One day you will find a person standing with a small device in his hand. Once everybody is seated, he will press the button and the audience will be immersed in universe - literally," he said.

Dr Pandey adds, "If no other follow-up activity takes place in such planetaria of future, and such planateria do not take place of the old ones and this becomes the norm then this will be the death of education in astronomy through planetaria."

Dr Pandey said that a new trend has been noticed with the arrival of new equipment in India.
"There is nothing wrong with new equipment. It has more features and striking panoramas compared to the type that populated and dominated the scene earlier," he said pointing out that the programmes had to be more educative.

"The bad part comes when the programme gets over and you wish to ask some questions to someone. You find yourself face-to-face with a button pusher. He does not know astronomy," he said.

Another aspect that is unique to Indian planetaria is that we live in splendid isolation. "There is no interaction, there are no confederations or associations of Indian planetaria," he said.

Dr Pandey, who has the experience of working with several planetarium across the country, said that there are 26 planetaria across the country. The last one was inaugurated at Lucknow in the month of may this year and within the next three years, the total may go upto 30. (UNI)

snake charmers

2007-11-26T07:42:00.000-08:00

Snake-charmers beware on Nagpanchami: wildlife activists

MUMBAI, Aug 17/2004:

Wildlife activists and snake-rescue groups will fan out in this island city and neighbouring Thane to apprehend snake-charmers, who converge here with snakes on the occasion of Nagpanchami festival which falls on Friday.

Organisations like Animal Welfare Board of India and NGOs like Karuna and People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) besides the Bombay Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) will send teams to suburban railway stations, bus depots and neighbouring areas with temples of Lord Shiva, to nab the snake-charmers.

The Wildlife Protection Act of 1972, forbids catching of snakes and keeping snakes in capitivity in India.

In fact, during the Nagpanchami festival last year, around 120 snakes were rescued by activists and later released in the Ssanjay Gandhi National Park, which is spread over 100 sq km in the Mumbai suburbs and neighbouring thane.

A member of the Animal Welfare Board, Bhavin Ghatani said that most of the snake-charmers come here from neighbouring Gujarat and Rajasthan. They display snakes here and collect alms from devotees.

"But the snakes are treated in an extremely brutal manner," he points out.
Peta camgaign coordinator Dilpreet Beasley said snakes are captured in suffocating bags, are starved, have their teeth violently yanked out, many have their mouth painfully sewn shut and are brought to the cities.

The snake’s venum duct is often pierced with a hot needle, causing the snake’s gland to burst. Some snakes go blind because "Tikka (vermilion)" is applied on their hood during "pooja (prayers)", which trickles into their eyes.

Bombay SPCA’s hospital manager Dr Ashish Sutar said a meeting of various NGOs and other environmental bodies was held on Sunday here, wherein the strategy was chalked out to get hold of the snake-charmers and then hand over to the police.

Mr Ghatani pointed out that a special check will be maintained by teams over the railway overbridges in the city where most of these snake-charmers sit and display the snakes and get alms from devotees. Some of the temples where checks would be maintained are Babulnath in south Mumbai, Jeevdani in Virar, Tungareshwar in Vasai and other temples in the Mumbai city.
Ms Beasley said it is believed that feeding milk to snakes brings good fortune to the devotee, but these snakes suffer terribly and unsually meet an early death. Because they are starved and kept thirsty, the snakes consume the milk offered to them. "Nothing could be further from their natural diet. Milk causes severe dehydration and allergic reactions, and often dysentry, in the snakes. Most die as a result. The snake’s skin is sold and made into leather purses or belts. Some captured snakes are sold to hospitals and colleges for dissection or for miserable lifetime cramped in a dark box only to be taken out for venom milking," she told UNI here.

Another misconception is that snakes sway to music. However, snakes are deaf, and actually spread their hoods and sway in tandem to the movements of the snake-charmer in an effort to defend themselves, an action which causes them exhaustion and terror.

Issac Kehimkar, a senior official of the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), said a few years ago the BNHS took the lead in combatting the menace of snake-charmers and today there are several bodies which are doing a wonderful job.

Mr Ghatani pointed out that they have also started some helplines where people can complain about snake-charmers, if they see them. The helplines are: 28761313, 28763856 and 98203-19842.

PETA has appealed to the people that if they see a snake-charmer,in way is to boycott them and encourage people to worship clay idols instead. (UNI)

angels of the sky

2007-11-26T07:39:00.001-08:00

They are the angels in sky - hovering all over

MUMBAI, Nov 8/1999:

They are known as the angels in the sky. They hover all over to maintain the hawk-eyed vigil over the coastal areas and sea, and even perform peace-time roles. When required they perform the deadly combat role to silence the guns of enemy.

These are helicopters of the Indian Navy. Be it the Chetaks, the formidable Seaking Bravos and Charlies, Matches and the Kamovs. "Helicopters play a very important role and are an integral part of the the mighty Indian Navy", says Commodore Subodh Purohit, the Commanding Officer of the Naval Air Station Ins Kunjali here.

While the squadron of Chetaks are known as Angels, Zappers are the ones who fly the British-made Seaking 4Cc known as the Marine Commando Flight. Harpoons as the name suggests, are the guys who look for submarine on Seaking 42B and attack them with missiles. Eagles are those who fly the Russian-made Kamovs.

"They are always on alert and can fly in just three minutes notice", said the Commodore, who is now busy with the preparations of the international fleet review 2000 to be held in February next year. Preparations are on for the next year’s mega event, the theme for which is "bridges of friendship".

Around 30 naval choppers will be part of the 65 aircraft taking part in the fly past on September 17, which will be reviewed by President K R Narayanan and the next day, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee will witness the international city parade on the marine drive. "The planning has to be accurate, as so many different type of aircraft will fly in a span of a few minutes", Commodore Purohit said.

During the international city parade the naval helicopters, he said will also display search and rescue operations. He adds that since the Ins Kunjali, one of the seven naval air stations of the country, came to existence, more than 150 lives have been saved thanks to these daredevils who fly these machines in extreme weather conditions.

These pilots, navigators, divers, officers and sailors on-board these wonderful flying machines have rescued many lives from the jaws of death, sometimes as so far as 200 km into the sea. Whether it is a sinking ship, cyclone-hit Kandla or Orissa or routine operational tasks — they are everready to take up any job.

The dare-devils are always ready for help - anyone, anytime. They are always prepared to take up challenging tasks and combat role. Be it a commando operation, airlift, tracing and submarine and finishing it off or search and rescue. Even daring tasks of show displaying the powress of the services.

Ins Kunjali, the Naval Air Station here, meets the helicopter missions for the Navy’s Western Naval Command (WNC). The base started operations in 1971 and operated more than 25 helicopters of various hues. Other than meeting naval tasks, the base also supports helicopter operation of indian Air Force, Army, Coast Guard and even a few civil agencies.

It will be the nerve centre of all air operations during the international fleet review. "We are fully prepared for it", says the ace pilot, who has carried out several missions. The helicopters based here fly out to warships to join on their mission, sometimes remaining at sea for months together. And when these ships return, the choppers fly back to the base for maintenance and training of crew.

Primary among these are the Seaking Mark 42BS from the house of Westland in Britain. These are known as the teeth of the Navy, forming the 330 squadron. They can hunt down submarines lurking in the deep, sink intruding warships, snoop on enemy electronic activity and become good command and control platform.

Then there are seaking 42 CS, again British-made, which carry out dangerous covert missions whith the Navy’s elite marcos, better known as Marine Commandos. It can also carry army troops and commandos during amphibious operations. They, like the 42BS do search and rescue at large distances into the sea and can even shift cargo, which may be as big as a jeep.

The Russian Kamov 28S, which also specialise in hunting down submarines, whilst flying from ships are based in Ins Kunjali. The bulk of coastal search and rescue responsibility is with the 321 Flight made up of tiny yet redoubtable Chetaks. The manned attached torpedo carrying helicopter (match), built by the HAL, can also be operated from here. In future when the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) joins, it can also operate from this base.

Angels in the sky — is the right sobriquet for the men and machines of the naval air station here. However, lest the enemy should forget, the angels could even rain death, when called upon to do so. (UNI)