International Day for preservation of Ozone Layer being observed today

16092014

The International Day for the preservation of the Ozone Layer is being observed today. The day marks the commemoration of the date of signing of the Montreal Protocol in 1987 on substances that deplete the Ozone layer.

Substances like Chlorofluorocarbons, halons, Carbontetrachloride are responsible for depletion of ozone layer . The Ozone layer is a fragile shield of gas which protects the Earth from the harmful ultraviolet radiation of the sun and thus helping preserve life on the planet.

Countries were invited to devote the Day to promote activities in accordance with the objectives of the Protocol and its amendments. This year, the theme for Day is Ozone Layer Protection: The Mission Goes On.

The UN Secretary General Ban Ki- Moon in his message has said, recent scientific findings reveal the importance of the Montreal Protocol.

Without the Protocol and associated agreements, atmospheric levels of ozone-depleting substances could have increased ten-fold by 2050. Concerted action has prevented millions of cases of skin cancer.

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India spacecraft to enter Mars orbit on September 24

16092014

An Indian spacecraft will enter Mars on September 24 for scientific exploration of the red planet after a 300-day voyage through inter-planetary space.
“After cruising through 666-million km across the solar orbit, for over nine months, our spacecraft will be inserted into the Martian orbit Sep 24 at 7.30 a.m., Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scientific secretary V. Koteswara Rao said at a preview of the mission’s tryst with the celestial object.The orbit insertion will take place when the spacecraft will be 423 km from the Martian surface and 215 million km away (radio distance) from the earth.

The ambitious Rs.450-crore ($70 million) Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) was launched Nov 5, 2013 on board a polar rocket from the spaceport Sriharikota off the Bay of Bengal, about 80 km north-east of Chennai.

“India will be the first country in the world to insert a spacecraft into the Martian orbit in its maiden attempt if the operation succeeds and also the first Asian country to reach the red planet’s sphere,” Rao said.

The state-run ISRO will be the fourth space agency after National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the US, Russian Federal Space Agency (RFSA) and European Space Agency (ESA) to have undertaken a mission to Mars.

Incidentally, NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution Orbiter (MAVEN) will enter the red planet’s orbit Sep 22.

In the run-up to the D-day, the mission scientists will do course (trajectory) correction Sep 22.

As on Monday, the 475 kg (dry mass) spacecraft is 13 million km away from Mars, having cruised 98 percent (201 million km) of the radio distance from the earth and 653 million km of the sun’s 666 million km orbit.

“The course correction has been postponed to Sep 22 from Sunday (Sep 14) to conserve the precious liquid fuel weighing (852 kg) and ensure the orbital insertion takes place when the spacecraft is closer to Mars for smooth transition from the sun’s orbit,” Rao said.

Scientists at the spacecraft’s control centre have started uploading commands since Sunday and will verify them late Monday.

During the Orbiter’s long journey, mid-course correction was carried twice – Dec 11 and June 11 – but skipped in April and August as it was cruising in the solar orbit as intended.

“The liquid apogee motor (LAM) or fuel engine at the bottom of the spacecraft will be fired Sep 22 for four seconds to enter the Martian sphere of influence and the course correction will consume about 500gm of fuel,” Rao said.

The speed of the spacecraft will also be reduced to 2.14 metre per second from 22.2 km per second for enabling smooth transition into the Martian orbit from the sun’s orbit Sep 24.

The insertion operation will begin at 4.17 a.m. by first activating the spacecraft’s three antennas for receiving and transmitting signals between earth and Mars.

At 6.56 a.m., the spacecraft will be rotated towards Mars and five minutes later when sunlight is not falling on the Martian surface causing eclipse, the thrusters beneath the engine will give the Orbiter altitude control.

“The liquid engine will start firing at 7.17 a.m. and at 7.21 a.m., Mars occult begins. A minute later at 7.22 a.m., telemetry (radio signals) will be off or out of receiving radars on the earth,” Rao pointed out.

Scientists at the space agency’s deep space network at Byalalu, about 40 km from Bangalore, NASA’s Earth station at Goldstone on the US west coast, the ESA’s Earth station at Madrid will confirm the insertion into the Martian orbit 24 minutes later at 7.54 a.m.

“Telemetry signals resume and Doppler measurements will provide first signals about the successful insertion of the spacecraft into the Martian orbit,” Rao added.

The spacecraft, with five scientific instruments, will be placed in an elliptical orbit, with the nearest distance from the Martian surface being 423 km and the furthest 80,000 km, to rotate around it in a duration equivalent to 3.2 earth days.

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India, China relations go beyond plain arithmetic: PM

16092014

A day ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s arrival in Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday hailed the ties shared between India and China. With a conversation with Chinese journalists based in New Delhi, the PM said, “India and China are bound by history, connected by culture, and inspired by rich traditions. With conversation with Chinese journalists based in New Delhi, the PM said, “India and China are bound by history, connected by culture, and inspired by rich traditions. Together they can create a bright future for the entire mankind.”

PM further described the India-China ties as moving ahead from “Inch (India and China) towards Miles (Millennium of Exceptional Synergy)”.

He said that every inch we cover can rewrite history of humanity and every mile we cross will go a long way in making this planet a better place.

The PM further hoped that together India and China cover several miles. Several miles that take not only the two nations forward but also all of Asia and humankind towards the path of progress and harmony, Modi added.

Further referring to the large population base of India and China, Modi said that when the two Asian countries gain, almost 35 percent of the world’s population benefits; when India and China strengthen ties, almost 35 percent of the world’s people come closer; when economic cooperation between India and China increases, the lives of almost 35 percent of the world’s population undergoes qualitative changes.

Responding to a question on how he foresees India and China relations developing, the Prime Minister explained that our relations go beyond plain arithmetic.

“The arithmetic and chemistry of our relations convince me that together we can script history and create a better tomorrow for all of mankind.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will set aside protocol and himself receive Chinese President Xi Jinping when he arrives in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.

Xi will become the first world leader to begin an India visit from Gujarat.

Modi will himself receive Xi on his arrival from Colombo on Wednesday afternoon.

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BJP wins Vadodara, SP bags Mainpuri, TRS takes Medak

16092014

Sep 16,

BJP has retained the Vadodara Lok Sabha seat in Gujarat while Samajwadi party won Mainpuri seat in Uttar Pradesh and in Telegana Medak Lok Sabha seat went to Telangana Rashtra Samithi. The counting began this morning.

Uttar Pradesh, ruling Samajwadi party got a shot in the arm as its Loksabha candidate declared victorious a short while ago. Grand nephew and Samajwadi Party candidate Tej Pratap Singh Yadav defeated his nearest rival of BJP Prem Singh Shakya by three lakh twenty one thousand one hundred forty nine votes at the prestigious Loksabha seat of Mainpuri which was vacated by SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav.

BJP has won the Lucknow East Vidhan Sabha seat by over twenty five thousand votes. Ashutosh Tandon, the son of veteran BJP leader Lalji Tandon has defeated his nearest Samajwadi Party rival Juhi Singh. BJP has also won NOIDA seat defeating SP candidate by a margin of over 25000. Whereas BJP’s Bimla Botham has won the NOIDA assmebly seat by the margin of over 58000 votes defeating her nearest rival Kajal Sharma of Samajwadi Party. The saffron party has also won the Saharanpur seat where its candidate Rajiv Gumber defeated SP’s Sanjay Garg by 26000 votes.

Official Media  reports that out of 11 assembly seats ruling Samajwadi Party has won 7 seats whereas it is leading on Rohania seat. All the seats were vacated by BJP and its ally Apnadal as their MLAs were elected as MPs in recent Loksabha elections. Now the result of only Rohania assembly seat is awaited.

Gujarat, BJP has won prestigious Vadodara Loksabha seat vacated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. BJP candidate Ranjanben Bhatt has won Vadodara Loksabha seat by more than 3 lakh votes over her nearest Congress rival Narendra Rawat. On nine assembly seats, the BJP won six seats, while the Congress has won three seats. AIR Correspondent reports, the Congress has snatched Khambhaliya, Mangrol and Deesa Assembly seats from BJP, while BJP retained Maninagar, Talaja and Tankara, Limkheda, Anand and Matar Assembly seats.

In Medak Lok Sabha bye elections, TRS candidate K. Prabhakar Reddy won the Medak Lok Sabha seat by a huge margin of 3,61,277 votes over his nearest congress candidate Sunita Lakshma Reddy. The congress candidate polled 2,10,523 votes. the BJP-TDP candidate stood third in the elections.

In Rajashtan, all four results have been declared. Congress won three and BJP won in one seat. In Surajgarh, Congress candidate Shravan Kumar defeated Dr Digambar Singh of BJP with a margin of 3270 votes and in Weir Congress Candidate Bhajanlal defeated his nearest rival of BJP Gangaram Koli with a margin of 25,108 votes. In Nasirabad, Ramnarayan Gurjar of Congress has won with his nearest rival of BJP Sariga Gena with a margin of 386 votes. In Kota South assembly seat, BJP candidate Sandip Sharma defeated his nearest rival of Congress candidate Shivkant Nandwana with a margin of more than 25,000 votes.

In West Bengal, BJP candidate Mr.Shamik Bhattacharjee has won in Basirhat South assembly by-election. Mr.Bhattacharjee defeated his nearest Trinamool Congress candidate Mr.Dependu Biswas over a margin of 1400 votes while the ruling Trinamool Congress has retained the Chowringhee seat in Kolkata. AIR Kolkata correspondent reports that the BJP has opened its account in the state assembly after 15 years.

In Andhra Pradesh, Tangirala Soumya of Telugu Desam Party has won the by-elections for Nandigama Assembly Constituency. Two other independent candidates K. Pullaiah got 941 votes while M. Pulla Rao secured 647 votes, while NOTA had 1,177 votes.

In Assam, out of three assembly seats, Congress candidate Rajdip Gwala won the Lakhipur seat by 9172 votes. Official announcement is yet to come. In Silchar BJP’s Dilip Paul is leading by 36,000 votes. In Jamunamukh assembly constituency, All India United Democratic Front candidate Abdur Rahim Ajmal is leading by 19,000 votes.

In Sikkim, an Independent Candidate Rup Narayan Chamling has won the Bye-Election of Rangang-Yangang seat in south district with margin of 706 votes. He has defeated the Sikkim Democratic Front candidate Kumari Manger. While the BJP candidate Bikas Basnet secured third position. Rup Narayan Chamling who is the younger brother of the Chief Minister, Pawan Chamling has got total 4749 votes.

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Philippines orders evacuation near powerful volcano

16092014

Philippines authorities today ordered people living close to a powerful volcano to evacuate, warning a dangerous eruption may occur within weeks.
Magma has reached the crater of Mayon volcano, in a coastal and farming area 330 kilometres southeast of Manila, according to the director of the state volcanology agency, Renato Solidum.

“A hazardous eruption is possible within weeks,” Solidum said in a text message.

Residents within the volcano’s six-kilometre radius, already designated as a “permanent danger zone,” will be forcibly evacuated immediately, regional civil defence director Bernardo Alejandro said.

The volcanalogy agency raised the danger alert for Mayon to three, on a five-level scale.

Level three means there is “relatively high unrest”, and five means an eruption is occurring.

Local officials were meeting on Tuesday to discuss their response to a possible eruption, Alejandro said in a text message.

It was not immediately clear how many people lived within the danger zone, but a local official told a televised press conference that 120 people had already been evacuated.

Mayon and its surroundings are also a popular tourist destination. Mayon, one of the Philippines’ most active volcanoes, last erupted in May 2013 when it spewed a giant ash cloud and a hail of rocks, killing four foreign tourists and their local tour guide.

The 2,460-metre Mayon is famed for its near-perfect cone but has a long history of deadly eruptions.

In 1814, more than 1,200 people were killed when lava flows buried the town of Cagsawa.

An explosion in August 2006 did not cause direct deaths, but the following December a passing typhoon unleashed an avalanche of volcanic mud from Mayon’s slopes that killed 1,000 people.

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Categories : CSR, culture

Lessons To Be Learnt from J-K Floods

16092014

Lessons To Be Learnt from J-K Floods

Dr. Rajiv Kumar

To

Me

Today at 4:17 PM

Dear Mr. Sagar I am forwarding my column in Mail Today of Monday 15th September. The Indian army has done stellar work in flood relief in the Valley. And as always there are remarkable accounts of volunteers and civil society organizations rendering selfless service. It is therefore important to bridge the gap between the State and the civil society rather than reinforce the existing the gulf between ‘Us and Them’. We have to make the important shift from the ‘Mai Baap Sarkar’ to ‘Meri Sarkar’. Your comments are most welcome as always. Best regards, Rajiv Kumar Lessons to be learnt from J-K floods, says Rajiv Kumar The deluge and consequential human tragedy in Jammu and Kashmir is unprecedented. Hundreds of lives have been lost and the misery continues unabated with more to come as disease and pestilence start to spread in the wake of receding floodwaters Even more heartrending is the loss of self-dignity and utter feeling of helplessness felt by the citizens, who could have never imagined such a catastrophe befalling them. The disaster has obliterated all distinctions but how one wishes that the beautiful people of Kashmir with their glorious syncretic traditions will come together in happier and hopeful circumstances. For these happier times to come about, all of us, especially the political leadership, have to recognise that business as usual (BAUD) will not do. Failure The mighty Indian State, ever eager to gobble up more resources, and claim special status with its red beacons and Z-class security and freebies at taxpayers’ cost, does not show any contrition as it admits to be palpably incompetent in the handling of, let alone, preventing the crisis. On this occasion this has crossed all imaginable scale as the chief minister, almost proud in being candid, declared that the floods have simply washed his government away. This was the easiest way to wash off all responsibility from one’s hands. This should prompt us to ask the question as to why do our administrative systems fail so completely and with sickening regularity? Why is the National Disaster Management Authority an institutional disaster and why do we have to rely so quickly and abjectly on the armed forces, which are surely not meant to be an auxiliary system for disaster management. We also do not question the chief ministers of disaster-stricken states, whether it is Bihar and Uttarakhand in the yesteryears and Jammu and Kashmir this year to own the moral and managerial responsibility for these preventable catastrophes. The fact is that the misery wrought by nature on the hapless and helpless Indians or the miserable conditions in which we are forced to exist after nearly seven decades of our independence is simply no one’s responsibility. I am afraid this attitude of complete lack of accountability and zero responsibility towards generating the needed employment and jobs in our country will hurtle this country into a historical nightmare that will be difficult to come out of. Long ago we had coined the term ‘Predatory State’ to characterise the government, which acts against the national and peoples’ interest to serve the petty vested interest of its cronies and components. From all accounts emerging from Srinagar, Jammu, Lucknow and Kolkata, to name some, such a predatory state continues to survive across regions of the country. Disregard How can one otherwise explain complete disregard to on going environment degradation and the spread of urban squalor in J&K, which has contributed to the present tragedy; the cynical instigation of communal savagery in Uttar Pradesh; or the active connivance of the political class in the drug addiction and decimation of an entire generation; the lack of regulatory action against female infanticide; or the continuation of bride burning, dowry deaths, child labour or manual scavenging after more than five decades of all these being declared illegal. The State has not only abdicated its responsibility but has actively used the apparatus at its disposal to fulfil very petty, selfish and sometimes malafide interests. This must change if future tragedies are to avoided or at least their horrific impact has to be minimised. The silver lining amidst this gloomy picture have been reports of heroic deeds of volunteers, some of whom put their risk lives at risk to protect others. This has been a running theme in our country. When the state breaks down, as it did in 1947, or when it is implicitly asked to remain a mute bystander or actively connive with the perpetrators of heinous crimes, many within the civil society rise to the occasion. Neighbours provide succour and protection to those facing the threat to their lives from either natural catastrophe or inhuman violence. Civil society organisations come forward to mobilise financial, material and food assistance that quite often is much larger in volume and more efficient in delivery as compared to that undertaken by the official agencies. Mistrust But then on occasions such as now being witnessed in Jammu and Kashmir, the civil society is either hugely divided, or mistrusted by the government or simply unable to act in the face of a tragedy that has enveloped them all at the same time. At such times clearly, the State has to take the vanguard role and not let the people down by its chief representative throwing up his hands and declaring helplessness. I hope that after the Kosi disaster in Bihar, the Uttarakhand tragedy and now Srinagar, we are serious about initiating some measures to reduce the probability of such calamitous events and minimising human costs in case they do occur. The two necessary conditions for developing this new approach, that is badly needed, is to re-establish the trust between the people and the government and secondly to jettison as soon as possible the BAUD mindset. To begin with the government must right away stop the practice of painting all CSOs with the same brush and denigrating them as foreign agents, money laundering mechanisms or worse still being simply anti-national. I really wonder if this State, with its repeatedly demonstrated inability of safeguarding human lives, has the legitimacy to charge any other organisation as anti-national. The government has to change from being so dependent on the bureaucracy and ignoring, and in some cases being hostile to the civil society. This sustains the engrained trait of ‘us and them’ within the population and does not allow a participatory approach to development and disaster management. The people have to be given the self respect they deserve and not be subjected to government charity or aid that is thrown at them from helicopters as they scurry to retrieve the packets being air dropped. This requires the strengthening of civil society organisations and not their decimation as some tend to mistakenly believe. It is time that the ‘mai baap sarkar’ is supplanted by ‘meri sarkar.’

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Akhilesh Yadav: People of the state have given a befitting reply to the communal forces

16092014

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday said people of the state have shown the door to divisive and communal forces.

“People of the state have given a befitting reply to the communal forces and have expressed intention that they need harmony and brotherhood,” he told reporters.

The chief minister thanked people of the state for “failing” the communal powers. “Communal forces tried to gain mileage by spreading hatred, but the people by their power of vote defeated them,” he added. Akhilesh said the SP government in the state only concentrates on development works and has been working in this direction from day one and after by-polls it would continue to work more responsibly.

“We want to thank the people that at such a time, they have supported the Samajwadis and the direction in which the SP wants to take the state,” Akhilesh said.

Samajwadi Party

समाजवादी पार्टी के तरफ से सभी उमीद्वारो को जीतने पर हार्दिक बधाई
मैनपुरी – श्री तेज प्रताप सिँह यादव
निघासन – श्री कृष्ण गोपाल पटेल
बिजनौर – श्रीमती रूचिवीरा
हमीरपुर – श्री शिवचरण प्रजापति
सिराथू – श्री वाचस्पति पासी
बलहा – श्री वंशीधर बौध
ठाकुरद्वारा – श्री नवाबजान खान
चरखारी – श्री कप्तान सिंह राजपूत

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HICC invitation: Oil Paintings by Jenő Balogh – Inauguration on 23 Sept,Tues,6 pm at HICC

16092014

HICC invitation: Oil Paintings by Jenő Balogh – Inauguration on 23 Sept,Tues,6 pm at HICC

hicc.delhi New Delhi

To

Balogh Jenő mblack@t-online.hu

CC

Titkárság – DEL

BCC

Me

Today at 12:03 PM

Dear Friends!

I take this opportunity to invite you to the opening of an Oil Paintings exhibition ‘Planetary Consciousness’ by a Hungarian spiritual painter Jenő Balogh onTuesday, 23rd September, at 6.00 pm at the Hungarian Information and Cultural Centre (HICC).

The show will be inaugurated by Prof. Om Prakash Sharma, an eminent artist andformer Principal of Delhi College of Art, University of Delhi, in presence of  the Artist Mr. Jenő Balogh.

Kindly save this date in your calendar. Please, do find the e-invite below.

Looking forward to your gracious presence at the event!

With best regards,

Johanna Balchandani

Senior Cultural Adviser

Hungarian Information and Cultural Centre

1-A Janpath, New Delhi – 110 011

Tel: 00-91-11-2301 4497, 2301 1152, 2301 4992

Fax: 00-91-11-2379 3161

E-mail: hicc.delhi@gmail.com

Website: delhi.balassiintezet.hu

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“Khoobsurat” actors Sonam Kapoor & Fawad Khan in Delhi

16092014

“Khoobsurat” actors Sonam Kapoor & Fawad Khan promoted their film in Delhi

Pakistani actor Fawad Khan and fashionista Sonam Kapoor visited Delhi and promoted their film in PVR Director';s cut, Ambience Mall, Vasant Kunj. On the occasion versatile actor Kirron Kher also accompanied then at the press meet. Khoobsurat is a  Hindi Romantic comedy film, directed by Shashank Ghosh and produced under the banner Walt Disney Pictures, UTV Motion Pictures & Anil Kapoor Films Company. The is stars Sonam Kapoor & Fawad Khan in the Lead roles and the film is set to be released on 19th September,2014

On the event, Pakistani actor who is debuting with the film, Fawad Khan said, “Its quite a fun working in bollywood, and It was a great opportunity that I got to work with such veteran actors like Kirron Kher & Ratna Pathak and Sonam is fun to work with. The film is very entertaining and worth spending money”