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| Specify better
emission norms, conduct health studies: Experts NEW DELHI, Apr 8: Even as the city Government gears up to convert its public transport fleet to......more Hopes, fears dominate NEW DELHI, Apr 8: Yet again the tourist season is all set to arrive in Kashmir. And yet again there is .....more When was Golden Temple built? NEW DELHI, Apr 8: When was the Golden Temple at Amritsar constructed ? this question has .....more
Rao to depose before NEW DELHI, Apr 8: Former Premier P V Narasimha Rao would tomorrow depose before the Liberhan......more |
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‘Tehelka
episode part of international conspiracy’ LONDON, Apr 8: The Tehelka episode was part of an "international conspiracy" to defame BJP-led .......more CBI slaps disproportionate NEW DELHI, Apr 8: The CBI has registered another case of disproportionate assets against the ........more
For Clinton it was KOLKATA, Apr 8: For former US President Bill Clinton, it was a dream come true visiting the ......more CAG blasts Govt over NEW DELHI, Apr 8: Comptroller and Auditor General of India has expressed "disappointment" over .....more |
Specify
better emission norms, conduct health NEW DELHI, Apr 8: Even as the city Government gears up to convert its public transport fleet to CNG mode, experts say that setting up and implementing proper emission norms and making available cheap, efficient public transport system are the best ways to check pollution rather than total dependence on a particular technology. They say that no study has been done on the effect of pollutants on Indian population and such studies are needed considering the different environmental conditions here. Efforts in the direction of reducing pollution from public transport would hardly bear any fruits as private vehicles, owing to their sheer number, are the "main" contributors for pollution, according to them. Besides, data on vehicular pollution from different sources in Delhi is "questionable" as number of private vehicles on roads is not accurately known. Dunu Roy, an IIT Engineer running an NGO ‘Hazard Centre’, says though at an individual level,"diesel vehicles are three times more polluting, petrol vehicles are about 500 times more polluting in terms of pollution per passenger per kilometre". He says buses account for less than two per cent of vehicular traffic as per the available statistics and unless pollution caused by remaining 98 per cent of traffic, the private vehicles, is controlled, pollution can not be effectively checked. Agreeing to it, Dinesh Mohan from the Transport Research group of IIT says "in terms of pollution per kilometre per passenger, even the old buses pollute less than a car". However, according to Mohan, there is no accurate estimation of pollution caused by different vehicular sources because of lack of authentic information on the number of vehicles. While statistics indicate there are about 30 lakh private vehicles, there are only about 20 lakh families here. "Even if amount of pollutants by one vehicle is known you need to know the total number of vehicles in Delhi and their condition to reach any comprehensive conclusion on vehicular pollution," he adds. Commenting on CNG, he says in the capital 60 per cent people travel by buses and as conversion to CNG involves heavy investment it will make public transport expensive. It will "compel" people to switch over from public to private transport, leading to more pollution, Mohan says. People have already started buying second-hand scooters and mobikes and once they start using private vehicles, in all probability they will "never" return to public transport. About five-six motorcycles and scooters pollute as much as a bus, he said. "If 10 per cent people stop using buses, we will produce 15 per cent as much pollution as all buses put together. Besides, it will lead to more congested roads and more accidents". Mohan opines that it is "not wise" to convert entire bus fleet to CNG as no detailed study on its use on Delhi roads has been done. Though CNG emits less visible particles, "there is difference between what is emitted by burning a fuel in a laboratory and that on roads," he says. (PTI) |
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| Hopes, fears dominate ahead of tourist
season in Kashmir NEW DELHI, Apr 8: Yet again the tourist season is all set to arrive in Kashmir. And yet again there is hope and fear within the Government and the tourist industry keeping in view that several such seasons have passed by without evoking the response the ‘paradise on earth’ used to before militancy engulfed it. While there is a fear that the stepped up militant attacks might deter the potential tourists, the State Government and the industry hopes that the coming season attray it used to before 1989. Much significance is being attached to the possibility of talks between the Government and militants after the recent announcement by the centre in this direction. "With last year’s killing during the Amarnath pilgrimage still fresh on minds, there is fear that the prospective tourists may think twice before visiting Kashmir," said a State Government official here, admitting that stepped up militant attacks did create a scare. He, however, argued that since the militant attacks were not directed against civilians, tourists had nothing to worry. "The militant attacks, which have gone up during the ceasefire period, do cause an adverse impact on the prospect want to tour places where there is fear of threat to life," the official said. But he hoped that some kind of talks between the Government and militants might lead to reduction in militant violence to pave the way for a "prosperous" tourist season. Similarly, the tourism industry also hopes that the invitation of talks by the centre to all Kashmir groups would lead to some reduction in militant violence so that tourists could be attracted to the Valley. "We are sending people to Kashmir. People are going. But the signal of fear over militancy cannot be denied," said Indian Association of Tour Operators president Badri Bajaj. He said the people were aware about militancy and "they form their own opinions. There are also advisories issued by foreign countries asking their nationals not to visit Kashmir." Bajaj, however, hoped that with the Government announcing to hold talks, things may improve. "The prospect of tourism is linked with militancy. If militant attacks reduce, tourism will pick up, otherwise the scene is not good." The Valley, which used to be flooded with tourists particularly during the summers till 1989, has witnessed reduced tourist inflow after militancy. Only two years back, when the situation showed signs of improvement after many years, the Kargil conflict broke out causing a setback to the tourist industry. More than a lakh tourists had arrived in Kashmir in 1999 till May when the conflict erupted leading to a decline in the number in subsequent months. Similarly, the Amarnath killing on August one last year caused setback to tourism with the subsequent months witnessing reduced number of tourists. The State Government figures indicate that the arrival of tourists last year showed a rise April onwards but declined drastically after the massacre in Pahalgam on August one. The month of may witnessed arrival of 19,935 tourists, June had 31,935 and July 29,846. However, in August, only 8,447 tourists arrived in the Valley with the subsequent months witnessing 2,391, 3,060, 3,619 and 1,764 respectively. "Even the winter months this year did not witness any significant arrival," the official said, adding "may be it was because of less snowfall this year or the rise in militant attacks. We don’t know." Tourism is the backbone of the economy of Jammu and Kashmir with many sections of the society depending on this for their livelihood. With the tourist season just round the corner, hopes are being pinned on the positive outcome of the Centre’s invitation to all groups, including militants, for talks to settle the Kashmir issue. (PTI) |
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When was Golden Temple
built? NEW DELHI, Apr 8: When was the Golden Temple at Amritsar constructed ? this question has brought the popular game show Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) as a party to a case in a city court after the programmer and the participant differed on the issue. After the contestant was disqualified to participate in the show on the ground that his answer to the question was wrong, he approached a city court with evidence in support of his answer making it to issue notices to the organisers. The notices were issued by Civil Judge Bharat Parashar to Programme Producer M/S Synergy Communication (Pvt) Ltd, hosts Star TV, their auditor Arthur Anderson India Ltd and sponsor Britannia Industries Ltd asking them to file their reply by April 9 on a suit filed by the contestant D A Bhattacharya. Seeking injunction on the telecast of episode number 153 of KBC, Bhattacharya said his answer was 1601 AD while the producer differed with him saying that the Golden Temple was built in 1764 AD. Due to his wrong answer to a "nearest to" question, he could not qualify in the final round of the KBC, Bhattacharya was informed by the auditor of the game show, the suit said. He said he had made an attempt to participate in the programme through "Britania Offer" and after going through the mandatory rules he was asked three multiple choice questions and one "nearest to" question. Bhattacharya claimed he had given all possible evidence to support his contention that the temple was completed in 1601 AD and the holy book of Sikhs was installed on 1604 AD. But the clarification given by the quiz organisers was "historically and factually wrong," he alleged. According to the producers "it was not correct to say that the Golden Temple or Swarnamandir Amritsar was so called before it was rebuilt and its dome gilded by Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1764", the petition said. Bhattacharya said that the producers further replied that "while today the Golden Temple and the Harmandir Saheb refer to the same shrine, the fact is since the establishment of the original Harmandir in 1601 by Guru Arjan Dev, it only became the Golden Temple in 1764". According to the contestant, the producers of KBC had replied to him saying "our question was specifically about the golden temple or Swarnamandir". It was not "how long ago was the golden temple or Harimandir at Amritsar was built". Stating that Harminder Sahib and Golden Temple are the same entities and by no stretch of imagination they can be considered as separate entities, bhattacharya alleged that the KBC was trying to distort historical facts. (PTI) |
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For Clinton it was a dream come true KOLKATA, Apr 8: For former US President Bill Clinton, it was a dream come true visiting the mother house. For 14-year-old Somnil Saha, it was a desire fulfilled meeting Mr Clinton. Somnil, a student of class eight of Don Bosco School in the city after a gruelling wait finally managed to get an autograph of Mr Clinton on his own painting. Somnil said, " I had a dream to meet Mr Clinton, who was the American President. I have heard, read and seen him on television so many times. When the news came that Mr Clinton would be visiting Kolkata, I decided to make a try to meet him and get a signature on his portrait I drew." Somnil’s attempt to meet him at mother house did not meet with success because of strict security cordon. He then requested the American Consul General in the city and got into Sishu Bhavan. He finally met Mr Clinton there. Besides getting the autograph, somnil also talked to Mr Clinton about his desire to study in the United States. Somnil told the former President that he wanted to study in the United States. " Mr Clinton gave me his PA’s card and told me to contact him later," Samnil said. (UNI) |
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CAG blasts Govt over tardy
implementation NEW DELHI, Apr 8: Comptroller and Auditor General of India has expressed "disappointment" over the dismal performance of the Delhi Government in the implementation of family planning programmes saying that the use of birth spacing methods showed a declining trend. An astounding 74.18 per cent of couples adopting permanent family planning methods already had three or more children, CAG said in its report for the year 2000. There was also a consistent shortfall every year in tubectomies and vasectomies and adoption of birth spacing devices when compared to the bench mark of the targets fixed in the year 1995-96, it said. Increase in neonatal deaths and short comings in immunisation programmes are other examples of tardy implementations of the health schemes in Delhi, the report presented to the Delhi Assembly recently said. Out of the grant of Rs 74.83 crore released by the Government of India for health programmes, the City Government could utilise only about 61 per cent of the amount. "Comprehensive coverage of vaccine preventable diseases was not achieved and there was a shortfall in immunizations of children. This is highlighted by the fact that neonatal deaths have increased by 6.53 per thousand live births". CAG also expressed displeasure over the fact that the target of 100 per cent coverage of all vaccine preventable diseases has not been achieved in respect of any vaccine. As regards the universal immunisation programme, there was a "consistent shortfall" in number of cases covered under immunisation till 1998-99, though there was a marginal improvement in the year 1999-2000. "The performance was still below the level of 1995-96 in all cases except tetanus toxoid for pregnant women," it said adding test check in audit further revealed that the injections given to the expectant mothers fell short by 18 to 35 per cent during 1995-96 to 1997-98. On the Pulse Polio Immunization (PPI) programme, the report pointed out that there were 970 incidences of polio positive cases during 1995-96 to 1999-2000 with a maximum of 384 cases surfacing in 1995-96, followed by 201 in 1997-98 and 171 in 1996-97. The directorate of health and family welfare intimidated in August 2000 that three to five per cent children remained "uncovered" due to various reasons like resistance of the population, ignorance and migratory nature of population. The CAG has also taken exception that against the 292.44 lakh doses utilised for 171.73 lakh children in different rounds from 1995 to 2000, 378.84 lakh doses were used by the store. The remaining 86.40 lakh doses of vaccines costing Rs 283.12 lakh were returned to stock account, CAG said. (PTI) |
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