India has many airports that come with a `special tag' due to peculiarities and complexities involved in the landing and take-off procedures for aircraft at these airports.
Typically, airports located in hilly and mountainous regions, and those adjacent to water bodies like rivers and seas are classified as `special'.
The Mangalore airport is one among the list of such airports. Others include the ones in Srinagar, Leh, Port Blair, Calicut, and Agatti in Lakshadweep. The Vizag airport used to be on this list up until a new airport was built.
Monday, May 24, 2010
29 deaths in last four days b'coz of heat in Ahmedabad
As the mercury continued to hover around 45 degrees celsius in city, many more fell prey to the heat. The rising mercury killed two more persons on Sunday, taking the total death toll due to heat in the city in last four days to 29.
The flow of patients suffering from heat-related ailments kept pouring in at Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation-run VS Hospital, LG Hospital and Shardaben Hospital and at Civil Hospital. A senior AMC official said, "There has been a decrease in number of heat-related patients in comparison to last three days, we have received 19 cases in which two persons died."
The soaring temperatures coupled with prolonged dry spells for last few weeks with no humidity in air has made life difficult for people across the state and the coming days may not be any better.
Though it was a Sunday, people chose to stay indoors and most of the roads wore a deserted look while city malls recorded a decrease in footfalls.
The flow of patients suffering from heat-related ailments kept pouring in at Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation-run VS Hospital, LG Hospital and Shardaben Hospital and at Civil Hospital. A senior AMC official said, "There has been a decrease in number of heat-related patients in comparison to last three days, we have received 19 cases in which two persons died."
The soaring temperatures coupled with prolonged dry spells for last few weeks with no humidity in air has made life difficult for people across the state and the coming days may not be any better.
Though it was a Sunday, people chose to stay indoors and most of the roads wore a deserted look while city malls recorded a decrease in footfalls.
Tired Cabin crew may be a cause for Mangalore Aircrash
Up to 78% of fatal air crashes are caused by human error, of which a majority are because of pilot fatigue, according to the Indian Commercial Pilots' Association. Could this also have caused the Mangalore crash?
The jury is still out on that one, but internal communications of Air India Express accessed clearly show that a shortage of staff was forcing cabin crew to exceed the limit on flying hours imposed by the directorate-general of civil aviation (DGCA). Besides, most airlines are going in for quick turn-around (QTA) flights at night, further raising pilots' stress and fatigue levels.
The crew of Flight IX 812 had left Mangalore at 8pm and flew more than four hours to reach Dubai. Soon, they were busy with walk-around inspections, fuel checks, and weather confirmation. By the time the routine checks were over, passengers were ready to board the flight for the return journey.
The jury is still out on that one, but internal communications of Air India Express accessed clearly show that a shortage of staff was forcing cabin crew to exceed the limit on flying hours imposed by the directorate-general of civil aviation (DGCA). Besides, most airlines are going in for quick turn-around (QTA) flights at night, further raising pilots' stress and fatigue levels.
The crew of Flight IX 812 had left Mangalore at 8pm and flew more than four hours to reach Dubai. Soon, they were busy with walk-around inspections, fuel checks, and weather confirmation. By the time the routine checks were over, passengers were ready to board the flight for the return journey.
Bangalorians can file their complaints online soon
Get prepared for an e-revolution in civic life. You will not have to run around or make repeated calls for the fused streetlights, potholed roads, fallen trees or damaged electric poles in your area. Just come online, write about it and get it fixed by the concerned agency.
Finally, India's IT capital can boast of a holistic public complaint management system, one that integrates complaining civilians, acting civic agencies and the ruling government online.
The Times of India's Bangalore Patrol, conceived and managed by Janaagraha, is working on an online complaint management system where people can log in, locate their area, file their complaint and submit it online. These complaints will then be directed to the concerned authority. The agencies will also have an option to log in and update the complaint status online.
The idea is based on common man's experiences and careful studies of the various success models that have been adopted and implemented in many developed countries, including the UK and the US.
This facility will be made available online on the WISA portal, a month after the first report card for all the 198 wards is out.
Finally, India's IT capital can boast of a holistic public complaint management system, one that integrates complaining civilians, acting civic agencies and the ruling government online.
The Times of India's Bangalore Patrol, conceived and managed by Janaagraha, is working on an online complaint management system where people can log in, locate their area, file their complaint and submit it online. These complaints will then be directed to the concerned authority. The agencies will also have an option to log in and update the complaint status online.
The idea is based on common man's experiences and careful studies of the various success models that have been adopted and implemented in many developed countries, including the UK and the US.
UK's http://www.fixmystreet.com is already doing it for many years now. So is the http://www.seeclickfix.com in US that equips the common man and the governing agencies on reporting and receiving issues across the various neighbourhood communities.
This facility will be made available online on the WISA portal, a month after the first report card for all the 198 wards is out.
Indian girl in the team that created Artificial living cell
A girl who passed out of a Bangalore college is now in global limelight for being part of the team that created the first synthetic cell. Radha Krishnakumar, now in her mid-thirties, did her BSc in microbiology, chemistry and zoology from Mount Carmel College, reads the J Craig Venter Institute website, where her work has created ripples in the institute where she works now.
When contacted some of the teachers at the college who worked during the late 90s, and flashed a photo of her, one of them recollected this "quiet, sweet girl".
"She was a very quiet, unassuming girl. I remember her as a clever and focussed child," said a thrilled Vimala C M, the present head of the department of Zoology, who has been teaching in MCC for the past 25 years.
When contacted some of the teachers at the college who worked during the late 90s, and flashed a photo of her, one of them recollected this "quiet, sweet girl".
"She was a very quiet, unassuming girl. I remember her as a clever and focussed child," said a thrilled Vimala C M, the present head of the department of Zoology, who has been teaching in MCC for the past 25 years.
RSS oppose caste-based census
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| RSS flag |
Its general secretary Bhaiyyaji Joshi said here on Sunday that any move to classify people on caste lines would deal a blow to social harmony and fabric.
"Since its inception, the RSS is striving for establishing a casteless society. But the recent demand for identifying people on caste basis, especially with a view to ascertaining OBCs strength, will cause social friction and nullify all efforts of RSS and other social organisations to bring about social harmony in the country," said Joshi.
India joins Elite group of Countries with indegenously developed LCH
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| LCH model on display |
The LCH, manufactured by the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, took to the skies on Sunday in the presence of the defence secretary R K Singh, vice-chief of air staff, air marshal P K Barbora, chairman HAL, Ashok Nayak and senior officials of defence ministry and the forces. Chief test pilots Unni Pillai and Hari Nair put up a spectacular flying display of the LCH at the HAL airport in the city.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Student Cheated in Anna University campus by a Person pretending to be a employee
student was allegedly relieved of Rs.2.5 lakh cash by a stranger who promised to get him an engineering seat in Anna University.
According to police sources, D. Deekshit (19) of Tiruchi came here on May 3 to purchase an application form for admissions to engineering courses in Anna University. The suspect, introducing himself as Rishi Kanth, picked a conversation with the student near the campus and offered to help in getting a seat.
When Deekshit said he preferred Aeronautical Engineering, he said it would cost him Rs.5 lakh. Pretending to be an employee of the varsity, the suspect said Deekshit had to give a token advance and then pay the full cash.
After consulting his parents, the student agreed to the offer.
According to police sources, D. Deekshit (19) of Tiruchi came here on May 3 to purchase an application form for admissions to engineering courses in Anna University. The suspect, introducing himself as Rishi Kanth, picked a conversation with the student near the campus and offered to help in getting a seat.
When Deekshit said he preferred Aeronautical Engineering, he said it would cost him Rs.5 lakh. Pretending to be an employee of the varsity, the suspect said Deekshit had to give a token advance and then pay the full cash.
After consulting his parents, the student agreed to the offer.
SMS service to be launched in Chennai to check names in Electoral rolls
Senior officials of the civic body said that voters could text message their EPIC (Elector's Photo Identity Card) number and they would get a reply SMS if their names are on the list or not. The mobile number and prescribed format for sending the text message are being worked out.
Kannel, an open source WAP and SMS gateway, which is used to send many text messages, is being currently tested. The civic body also upgraded its server recently.
The city has a total of 27,62,920 voters of which 13,85,789 are males and 13,77,122 females. The Corporation is currently conducting a 100 per cent verification of voters and 4,36,317 new voters have been listed. There have been a total of 3,01,214 deletions too. By July, the draft electoral rolls are expected to be published.
MGR medical university is like a Post office - TN Health Minister MRKP
He urged Vice Chancellor Dr Mayil Vahanan Natrajan to turn it into a vibrant university, taking inspiration from the Anna University and Madras University.
Speaking at the inauguration of the new entrance arch, new lift and remolded Senate Hall in the University, he said, " This university is now like a post office. People come here to collect certificates and other paperrelated work. I hope it soon becomes a fully functional university with classrooms full of students like the Anna University and the Madras University."
Donating PaceMakers of Dead could save Thousands of lives in Developing countries
The US Food and Drug Administration currently prohibits reuse of pacemakers from dead people, in part because of the risk of infection. According to experts, this policy is supported by manufacturers and many physicians.
But at a meeting on Thursday, doctors from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor presented pooled data from hundreds of patients showing there was no increase in infections, malfunctioning or overall complications when reusing pacemakers. "This is a potentially life-saving technology that we are just throwing away right now," said Dr Kim Eagle, a cardiologist who worked on the study.
Breath could tell about Diabetes
A nanotechnology-based sensor could soon tell whether someone has Type 1 diabetes — just by analysing their breath.
The sensor, which has been successfully tested by Swiss researchers, could also be used by emergency room doctors to determine whether a patient has developed diabetic ketoacidosis, a potentially serious complication that happens when diabetics do not take enough insulin.
Even diabetics could use the technology in their homes, to determine whether they need more insulin. Sotiris Pratsinis and colleagues at ETH Zurich in Switzerland explain that everyone has a little bit of acetone in their breath.
But people with Type 1 diabetes release unusually high levels of the chemical when they exhale. If they have diabetic ketoacidosis, a dangerous buildup of acetone in the blood, they exhale even-larger amounts of acetone.
They built a sensitive acetone detector by directly depositing from a flame plume a thin film of semiconducting, mixed ceramic nanoparticles between a set of gold electrodes.
The sensor, which has been successfully tested by Swiss researchers, could also be used by emergency room doctors to determine whether a patient has developed diabetic ketoacidosis, a potentially serious complication that happens when diabetics do not take enough insulin.
Even diabetics could use the technology in their homes, to determine whether they need more insulin. Sotiris Pratsinis and colleagues at ETH Zurich in Switzerland explain that everyone has a little bit of acetone in their breath.
But people with Type 1 diabetes release unusually high levels of the chemical when they exhale. If they have diabetic ketoacidosis, a dangerous buildup of acetone in the blood, they exhale even-larger amounts of acetone.
They built a sensitive acetone detector by directly depositing from a flame plume a thin film of semiconducting, mixed ceramic nanoparticles between a set of gold electrodes.
Abbott Labs acquired Piramal Healthcare for 3.7 Billion Dollars
US drug major Abbott Laboratories has acquired the domestic business of India-based Piramal Healthcare for about 3.7 billion dollars.
Fending off fight from other drug biggies such as Britain's GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi Aventis and Pfizer, Abbott bagged the auction bid for Piramal Healthcare.
The deal reflects the heightened interest Western firms have displayed in the speedily growing Indian drug market.
Miles White, CEO of Abbott, stated, "It's a race. These markets are so significant in the future growth sources for our industry that it's important for us to be there early and in a meaningful, strong way."
Piramal will keep hold of its manufacturing business thatsupplies other drug makers all over the world, as well as other operations including consumer products and bulk drugs manufacturing. (With Inputs from Agencies)
Tata motors launched Indigo e-CS with Fuel efficiency of 23 Kmpl
It will also be provided with 1.2-litre petrol engine. Both the engine categories are BSIV and suitable enough to run the car freely in all the bigger cities with new environment regulations.
The luxury sedan comes equipped with a new grille, body colored bumpers, chrome inserts on rub rails and indicators on the rear view mirrors. The interiors comprise all the components of Indigo XL along with centre console and the steering wheel.
Drastic change in IPL for season 4
With 10 teams instead of the current eight, continuing with the current format would have meant playing 94 matches instead of the current 60, a prospect that was giving organisers the jitters, given the fact that the tournament would still have to be restricted to about seven weeks.
To get over this problem, BCCI bigwigs have informally discussed two alternative two-group formats for the league stage in their last meeting on May 17 and sources said the board would discuss the issue with the IPL's governing council in June.
Ravi Shankaran may have sold Indian War Room secrets for past 20 Yrs
Ravi Shankaran, 46, a key accused in the sensational war room leak case, may have sold Indian Navy’s secret equipment purchase plans for the next 20 years, a probe has revealed.
The ex-navy commander and nephew of former naval chief Arun Prakash’s wife was arrested by UK Police on April 21 and could
be extradited to India soon.
Shankaran was granted conditional bail, but was soon taken back into custody as he failed to fulfill the conditions, it is learnt.
The ex-navy commander and nephew of former naval chief Arun Prakash’s wife was arrested by UK Police on April 21 and could
be extradited to India soon.
Shankaran was granted conditional bail, but was soon taken back into custody as he failed to fulfill the conditions, it is learnt.
Roadblock in Dainik Bhaskar's expansion spree
Taking cognisance of Agarwal's protest letters, the district magistrates in Patna and Ranchi — the authority for title verification in the state — have issued showcause notices to D B Corp — owned by the other wing of the family, now headed by Ramesh Chandra Agarwal, seeking an explanation within seven days.
2 sites & 800 URLs banned by Pakistan
Pakistani authorities have blocked 800 URLs that feature 'blasphemous' and 'sacrilegious' content in the wake of the ban on Facebook and YouTube, a representative of the country’s association of internet service providers said today.
Acting on an order of the Lahore high court, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority initially banned popular social networking website Facebook over a page featuring a contest for "blasphemous" cartoons of Prophet Mohammed.
The ban was later extended YouTube and other links.
The move also affected access to Wikipedia and Twitter, internet users said.
BWA auction scheduled on May 24
According to official sources, a committee headed by cabinet secretary KM Chandrasekhar, approved the 34-day long auction process, which concluded on May 19. Other members of the committee are finance secretary Ashok Chawla, telecom secretary PJ Thomas and Planning Commission member secretary Sudha Pillai.
With this, the 3G auction process comes to end and all the winners, including two telecom PSUs, have been asked to pay within 10 days from now. DoT officials said the last date for payment is May 31.
I missed the flight & survived -- Vasant shetty
Heavy workload prevented Dubai-based worker Vasant Shetty from taking the ill-fated flight to Mangalore and he thanks God for it.
"It's all God's grace.I missed the flight and survived", Shetty, booked to travel on the Air India Express, said.
"My friend had booked the ticket for me.But due to heavy workload I could not take the flight. Upon learning about the crash, I was shocked. I thank God for saving me" Shetty said.
"I don't know what to say about the ill-fated passengers who were killed. I pray for them", he said.
"It's all God's grace.I missed the flight and survived", Shetty, booked to travel on the Air India Express, said.
"My friend had booked the ticket for me.But due to heavy workload I could not take the flight. Upon learning about the crash, I was shocked. I thank God for saving me" Shetty said.
"I don't know what to say about the ill-fated passengers who were killed. I pray for them", he said.
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