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| Diwali sparklers
create ozone pollution NEW DELHI, Oct 14: Scientists have warned against use of coloured fireworks this Diwali saying these generate ground-level ozone — a key ingredient in lung-choking urban smog. ......more UP Assembly polls in AGRA, Oct 14: Elections to the Uttar Pradesh Assembly would be held in February next and construction of Ram Temple at Ayodhya is not on BJP agenda for the polls, state party chief Kalraj Misrha announced today.....more MUMBAI, Oct 14: Maharashtra is the richest state in the country with a per capita income of Rs.......more Market section : Highlight MUMBAI, Oct 14: The fourth international film festival of Mumbai, which gets underway here from November 21, ...more |
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From B L Kak NEW DELHI: In a swift turn of events, Pakistan's "great" ally, China, has warned that Islamabad will have .......more CIA pumps money, NEW DELHI, Oct 14: Armed with a virtual blank cheque from the Bush administration, the Central....more East and West NEW DELHI, Oct 14: ‘Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall.....more Circulation of fake currency PATNA, Oct 14: The circulation of fake currency notes continues in the state, inspite ......more |
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Diwali sparklers create ozone pollution NEW DELHI, Oct 14: Scientists have warned against use of coloured fireworks this Diwali saying these generate ground-level ozone — a key ingredient in lung-choking urban smog. Research has established that ozone, which normally occurs high in the atmosphere, is generated at ground level on Diwali night from the hand-held, colour-emitting sparklers, a popular item among children. Experiments conducted over the past Diwali festivals have shown "ozone being produced in spontaneous bursts from the exuberant mass of colour-emitting sparklers," research findings published in the authoritative ‘Nature’ journal said. It said the underlying process of ozone formation from these sparklers resembled that induced by ultaviolet radiation in the stratosphere. "While no ozone was detected before the festival, on Diwali night ozone concentrations rose to about nine parts per billion," according to lead author of the study, Dr Arun Attri, Associate Professor in the School of Environmental Studies at the Jawaharlal Nehru University. Warning against its dangers, Dr Attri said ozone was a powerful oxidant and its presence in the lower atmosphere was undesirable. The use of coloured sparklers by people, mostly children, at ground level put them at risk of inhaling the pollutants emitted, Dr Attri told UNI. Ozone damages plants and, on inhalation, damages the lung linings and impairs lung capacity which was of concern to all, but more to children and those with breathing problems, he said. The US environmental agency too has warned against it saying while natural ozone high in the atmosphere protected the earth from the burning rays of the sun, at ground level it was a smog causing pollutant that can cause respiratory problems. The discovery of this new "surprising source of ozone" at ground level in India, battling as it is with manifold forms of pollution, is significant and of greater concern and ought to be tackled with urgency, Dr Attri said. Advocating banning of the hand-held coloured sparklers on Diwali, he said it was preferable to burst fireworks that sent incendiaries high above to produce colourful explosions in the sky thereby not effecting the ground level pollution emanating from ozone. Apart from smog formation, the "perturbation of atmospheric behaviour" could also be due to this, he said, adding that further research would seek to find this out. Ozone is a secondary pollutant and greenhouse gas that is formed from molecular oxygen in the presence of sunlight and nitrogen oxides. "But its generation in spontaneous bursts even in the absence of sunlight and nitrogen oxides on Diwali night was shocking." The team of scientists comprising Ujjawal Kumar and V K Jain will continue their research and experimentation this Diwali to collect evidence regarding the effect of other fireworks on the atmosphere. Stating that the rise in atmospheric oxygen was dangerous for children and for those with breathing problems, he said inhalation of large amounts of ozone threatened to damage lung lining and reduce lung capacity. He said this also played a central role in smog formation which was akin to passive smoking and probably led to reduced visibility in winters. (UNI) |
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UP Assembly polls in February, says Kalraj AGRA, Oct 14: Elections to the Uttar Pradesh Assembly would be held in February next and construction of Ram Temple at Ayodhya is not on BJP agenda for the polls, state party chief Kalraj Misrha announced today. "Elections to the Assembly will be held in February and not before that," Mishra told reporters here on the sidelines of the ongoing golden jubilee national convention of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), the party’s youth wing. He was responding to a question on the mass resignations by legislators belonging to Samajwadi Party and some other opposition parties in the state. Mishra claimed that the party would come out with flying colours in the elections. Asked about Union Parliamentary Affaris Minister Pramod Mahajan’s statement that construction of the Ram Temple at Ayodhya was an unfulfilled desire of BJP workers, Mishra said while he personally favoured the temple’s construction, the issue was not on the party’s agenda. He said the temple already existed in the site and VHP only wanted to build a grand structure there. Earlier addressing the delegates, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Rajnath Singh said while his Government would be completing its tenure on October 17, it can constitutionally continue in office till March 26. Singh said "therefore we have taken a decision that no minister or legislator will take home their salaries from October onwards and would contribute the same to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund." Later he told reporters that BJP would give more tickets to Dalits and members of backward communities in the coming elections. Asked whether construction of the Ram Temple would be an issue in the Assembly polls, Singh said "it is not a political issue but a cultural one." It was oppositon parties which had politicised the issue, he alleged. Asked whether Ram Temple was on party’s agenda, he said "it is on the nation’s agenda." Earlier addressing the convention, senior party leader and Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu said while Ram Temple was not on the rulling NDA’s agenda, it along with other issues such as abolition of Article 370 and uniform civil code continued to be on the party’s agenda. He asked party cadre not to hesitate in going to the people with the party’s agenda. (PTI) |
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MUMBAI, Oct 14: Maharashtra is the richest state in the country with a per capita income of Rs 23,398 per annum coupled with increasing percentage of literacy rate, decline in death ratio, infant mortality rate and life expectancy better than the country’s average ratio, according to a research. Despite a 25 per cent below-poverty-line population, the per capita income of the state has been growing at a steady rate of around three per cent per annum since 1970, substantially exceeding its rate of population growth to over two per cent, according to the research conducted by the Maharashtra Economic Development Council here recently. On the literacy front, the state has captured the second position with 77.27 per cent as compared to the highest literacy domain state Kerala’s 90.92 per cent. The literacy rate has increased from 47.18 per cent in 1981 to 77.32 per cent this year. The country’s total literacy ratio is 65.38 per cent comprising 76.85 percentage of male and 54.16 percentage of female, the study revealed. The state has also achieved a significant goal in health sector also, the life expectancy in Maharashtra stands at 64.2 years while in Kerala, it is is 72.9 per cent. Maharashtra is the leading state equipped with health and primary centres. It is the fifth state in the country covering 48.7 per cent of population in form of health and primary centres. The report has also indicated that nearly 96 per cent of the total urban population in the state has access to drinking water. While in rural areas, half of the population is yet to gain access to drinking water since only 49.8 per cent population is having drinking water facilities. There is a vast disparity in rural and urban households in the area of sanitation. In rural households, sanitation facilities are 14.2 per cent and in urban areas it is 84.2 per cent. The provision of sanitation facilities in rural areas in the state are inadequate compared to other states like Kerala (76.9 per cent), Punjab (32.1 per cent) and West Bengal (23.9 per cent). The birth rate in Maharashtra has declined to 21.1 per thousand in last year from 32.2 per thousand population in 1971. Death rate has also fallen from 12.3 per thousand in 1971 to 7.5 per thousand last year. However, due to high illiteracy, infant mortality is higher in the rural areas compared to other states in the country, the report indicated. (UNI) |
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East and West come together in Shrutika’s art world NEW DELHI, Oct 14: ‘Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet’, or will they? Kipling’s immortal ballad has been proved wrong for East and West have indeed met, at least in a set of paintings by 24-year-old artist Shrutika Gupta whose works on glass range from a grim-faced red Indian chieftain to a battle raging in ancient Egypt to a royal beauty from Rajasthan. The last seems to be a direct influence of the Kishangarh School of Art. ‘Movement’ — a two-day solo exhibition of 32 works by Shrutika — was on view last week at the capital’s India habitat centre. A trip to Europe and America in 1999 breathed new life into an artistic journey that she began at age three. "I saw the cathedrals with their stained glass windows — the virgin mary and christ — and decided that would be my medium for artistic expression," Shrutika told UNI in an interview. The trip was followed by a crash course in this kind of painting at Dallas University. ‘Wonderland’ is entirely western in design. A hamlet complete with windmills forms the background. Three rugged farmers are engaged in tending roses while a girl flits about the garden like an angel. ‘Light in the dark’ has a young woman and is an experiment in nudism while ‘only words’ depicts what appears to be a balding philosopher bending over a manuscript while holding a quill. His crimson attire contrasts with the floral designs that border the work. ‘Mewar’ is familiar Indian territory. A lady in traditional attire shields her eyes against the brightness of the desert sun as she looks on for her beloved’s arrival. A palace-like structure, sand dunes, birds and reclining camels form the background. What strikes the viewer is the natural quality of the products making them seem like oil-on-canvas works. "I select the glass according to the design," Shrutika explains. While creating ‘ship of desert’ — which has a turbaned rustic leading a camel sporting a superbly colourful saddle —granular glass was chosen so that the background would present a sandy appearance. After selection of glass comes the wirework. The network of wire on the glass forms the outlines of people and objects represented. The gaps between the wires are then painted in myriad hues. The paint used has to be imported and is more durable which is imperative because her works are not merely for decorating walls. "If people want them to be form portions of doors and windows, all I have to do is remove the frame," says the artist. Working with such a fragile medium is a king-size challenge. Shrutika prefers the four-millimetre variety of glass to one-mm thickness and her creations are carefully packed in bubble polythene wrappers while being transported. "There is lack of realisation about my art form," she regrets. "I want to break the vision of the cathedral and make people realise that stained glass work need not be always associated with christ and churches. My endeavour is to use a distinctly European form to depict an Indian picture. "I called this, my first exhibition, ‘movement’ because I want a greater exchange of art between India and the rest of the world," she adds. Her customers range from the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation to the Bank of America. Shrutika is now doing a course in interior designing at a local polytechnic. (UNI) |
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Circulation of fake currency continues in Bihar PATNA, Oct 14: The circulation of fake currency notes continues in the state, inspite of the attempts to curb it by the Centre and Bihar Government. The startling revelation about the circulation of fake notes was made in Sitamarhi and Saharsa districts in the state during the last 48 hours even as jawans of Special Services Bureau (SSB) had been deployed on the directive of the Centre in Indo-Nepal bordering area to check pumping of fake notes from across the border. Sitamarhi police seized fake Indian notes worth Rs six lakh from two smugglers in the district last wednesday. Nepalese fake currency were also recovered from them, a district report quoting official sources said. A Saharsa report quoting official sources said that circulation of fake notes in Saharsa, Supaul, Madhepura, Araria, Kishanganj, Purnea and Katihar in Kosi region had once again got momentum. A few fake notes of Rs 500 domination were seized from Beerpur branch of State Bank of India (SBI) recently. Police Superintendent of Vaishali Shobha Ahotkar said that fake notes worth more than Rs one lakh were recovered from two people in the district last month. She said that the nabbed people were operating in different states through their inter-state links. Two people were arrested with fake notes in Pirbahore district of the state capital last month, sources added. Districts administration of the Indo-Nepal bordering area had created different cells for keeping a close watch on the suspected people. Branch managers of all banks had been advised to immediately provide information if their branches received any fake note, sources informed. Sources said that the ultimate objective of the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) and smuggling groups was to destroy the credentials of Indian banks and post offices and also damage the economy. A special economic cell had been created at state police headquarters, however, the pumping of fake currency has yet to be completely stymied. (UNI) |
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