Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Haryana win 3rd Senior Women National hockey championship






TOPICS

sport


Hockey





Haryana defeated Railways 4-1 to win the third Hockey India Senior Women National Championship at the Major Dhyan Chand Stadium in the Guru Gobind Singh Sports College, in Lucknow on Tuesday.


Contrary to the final result, it was Railways whop scored their opening goal through Amandeep Kaur in the 15th minute.


After conceding an early goal, Haryana forwards played attacking game and built pressure on their opponents.


Their efforts bore fruit as Haryana scored through Udita (34th, 65th min) and Narinder (47th, 49th min) to seal the match in their favour.


Railways wasted numerous scoring chances as they failed to convert as many as 10 penalty corners.


Meanwhile, Jharkhand defeated Punjab 2-1 to finish third in the championship.


Jharkhand, who led 1-0 at the half time, scored through Ebha Kerketta in the 30th minute by converting a penalty corner.


In the 37th minute Basanti Kachhap scored another goal to help Jharkhand take a 2-0 lead.


Punjab managed to reduce the margin in the 46th minute through a penalty corner strike by Sukhjit Kaur.


Results:


Final: Haryana 4 (Udita 34, 65, Narinder 47, 49) beat Railways 1 (Amandeep Kaur 15).


3rd-4th place match: Jharkhand 2 (Ebha Kerketta 30, Basanti Kachhap 37) beat Punjab 1 (Sukhjit Kaur 46).



More In: Hockey | Sport







via The Hindu Newspaper http://www.thehindu.com/sport/hockey/haryana-win-3rd-senior-women-national-hockey-championship/article4670659.ece

Afridi dropped from Pakistan squad for Champions Trophy






TOPICS

sport


cricket





Flamboyant all-rounder Shahid Afridi and batsman Umar Akmal were the prominent names to be axed from the 15-member Pakistan cricket squad announced for the forthcoming ICC Champions Trophy in England.


Chief selector Iqbal Qasim announced the squad on Monday in Lahore after lengthy deliberations although the selectors had finalised it last week and submitted it to the board Chairman for approval.


At the end of the day, it transpired that the selectors made two changes to their submitted squad replacing injured middle-order batsman Haris Sohail with Umar Amin and preferring to pick left-arm pacer Wahab Riaz over Aizaz Cheema.


The rest of the squad remained the same and Qasim said that Afridi was dropped because of his recent poor bowling form.


“Afridi’s bowling has not been up to the mark in recent matches. He has not taken wickets and his primary role in the team is that of a bowler,” Qasim told a press conference.


The same set of players with the addition of a few more are expected to get the central contracts for the year 2013.


The Pakistan Cricket Board also announced that Australian Trent Woodhill would be the batting coach of the team for the Champions Trophy and would join them in England.


Woodhill is presently on the coaching staff of the Delhi Daredevils in the IPL.


Yesterday, the two major exclusions remained Afridi and Umar, who went to South Africa for the recent one-day series, and the inclusion of uncapped pacer Asad Ali.


Asad has toured with Pakistan on recent tours to India and South Africa without getting a chance to play any match.


The source said selectors relied on experience after consulting the captain and coach.


Qasim said Junaid Khan, Mohammad Irfan, Asad Ali, Ehsan Adil and Wahab are the five pacers selected in the squad while the spin department will be handled by Abdul Rehman and Saeed Ajmal.


“The selectors have also given a final warning to senior pros Shoaib Malik and Kamran Akmal to gear up and perform or consider the Champions Trophy their last tour with the national team,” he said.


Interestingly Afridi was also given a similar warning when the squad was announced for the one-day series in South Africa but he went wicketless.


Pakistan will play one-day series in Scotland and Ireland in May before going to England for the Champions Trophy.


This will be their first visit to England since the 2010 spot-fixing scandal and they are placed with South Africa, India and West Indies in their group.


Pakistan squad: Nasir Jamshed, Imran Farhat, Mohammad Hafeez, Asad Shafiq, Misbah-ul-Haq (Capt), Shoaib Malik, Umar Amin, Kamran Akmal, Saeed Ajmal, Abdul Rehman, Junaid Khan, Mohammad Irfan, Asad Ali, Ehsan Adil and Wahab Riaz.



More In: Cricket | Sport







via The Hindu Newspaper http://www.thehindu.com/sport/cricket/afridi-dropped-from-pakistan-squad-for-champions-trophy/article4670594.ece

Help at hand





SOCIAL CONSCIOUSNESS: Amongst the young





Many young individuals find the time to do their bit for society



Twenty-Four year old Manivannan. C who works in the IT sector, visits three or four houses in his neighbourhood armed with nothing more than textbooks and a notion to help. He goes there to teach kids mathematics free of charge. He makes sure the kids do not fall behind in their studies. “Their parents are not that financially well-off to afford tuition,” he explains.


Manivanan is just one of the many young Coimbatoreans who are contributing their bit towards improving society. Such as T.R. Kumaran who took coaching classes for economically backward children free of charge at home while he worked in a professional coaching class set-up. Now, as he works in a service-sector company, does not have the time to spare. But he continues to discharge his social responsibility by bearing 25 per cent of the fees of a couple of college students who have approached him for help. “I know what my capacity is, and based on that, I give,” he says.


For those who may not be able to offer financial help, there is volunteer work. People are willing to give up their time for good causes. Antony Subin volunteers in an old age home in his vicinity. Apart from providing the inmates with soaps and shampoos, he also spends time with them during festivals and other holidays. Those are days, he feels, they get extra lonely. He also gets a lot out of him, he says. He finds the environment there peaceful and says, “Whenever I am sad, I go there because I find peace and enjoy talking to the old aunties and listening to their experiences.”


Niveditha, who works in the NGO Make a Difference in Coimbatore, started out as a volunteer. Make a Difference encourages young people to teach under-privileged children for three hours every week for at least a year. Niveditha spent time every weekend teaching Communicative English, which is taught through stories, poems and other interactive games to children from orphanages. The children are taught based on the Cambridge curriculum and are divided into groups based on their English speaking aptitude rather than on age. She volunteered her time because, “these children also deserve the same childhood that we had. And when I found an organisation which did that job, I thought I should join”.


Education, the key


“If education is set right, everything else will follow,” says Vinodh Akkalraj who has started Ohm Educational Trust, funded by him and his friends to support the education of academically excellent, but economically backward students. These students are chosen on the basis of their family background, their academic scores and their interest in pursuing higher studies. This information is given by the local government school where the students study. However, just education is not enough, believes Sylvia Edward, a Chartered Accountant. “I have come in contact with many single-parent families and their children who need time, inputs and counselling,” she says. Sylvia reaches out to kids who just need to talk at times. She hosts a meeting every week where teenagers come together just to vent their feelings about parents not trusting them, friendships not working out and peer pressure. “Teens just need someone to listen to them and that is what I like to do,” she says.


B. Vinoth Kumar, an accounting professional, believes that along with education character-building is equally important. He spends a couple of hours every day at a local government school imparting value education to middle school children. He teaches the kids about honesty, integrity, the value of family and hard work, all through stories. “Parents of these kids have no time to teach them such values; so, I want to bridge that gap,” he says.










via The Hindu Newspaper http://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/society/help-at-hand/article4670358.ece

Second-hand sandhai











  • The Hindu PIECES FROM THE PAST: At the sandhai. Photos: M. Periasamy




  • The Hindu




  • The Hindu




  • The Hindu











N.H. Road comes alive every Sunday with hagglers, bargain hunters and compulsive buyers as they go shopping for second-hand electronic goods, discovers Esther Elias



Every Sunday for nine years now, Shahul Ameen arrives at 8 a.m. on N.H. Road with cardboard boxes too full to tape shut. He spreads a tarpaulin sheet by the pavement outside a shuttered shop, hoists two poles on the road, throws another tarpaulin sheet over them and settles down in this makeshift shanty to unpack his wares.


Out come worn DVD players, Japanese headphones, mobile phone covers, chargers, ancient tape recorders, rusted sound mixers, dismantled mixies and second-hand CDs. Along the length of N.H. Road, others like Shahul slowly begin setting up the Sunday-only sandhai of second-hand electrical and electronics goods. With his products now neatly ordered and his morning chai downed, Shahul plonks cross-legged on a cane charpai, almost to say, “Let the haggling begin.”


“1,500!” says Babu. “800,” says the customer. “1,300!” snaps Babu. “1,000,” begs the customer. They meet at Rs. 1,100 and the customer walks off with a massive set of boombox speakers, its cloth covering bearing tell-tale holes. “People come here from all over Coimbatore every Sunday because there are at least 20 stalls to choose almost anything electronic from,” says Babu, who’s been a part of the sandhai for five years.


While most other sellers stay on till 8 p.m. when the market officially closes, Babu packs up once he’s made a decent sale. Babu spends his week going house to house in colonies across Coimbatore buying old electronic goods by weight. “Sometimes we buy from kabadi-wallas as well,” he says. Shahul finds his wares through similar methods but frequents exchange melas across the city and outside as well.


Unlike these two, Babu, owner of an electronics service unit just off N.H. Road sells at the sandhai the leftovers from his centre. “I have products which are too old to be fixed, so I bring them here and mechanics and other electricians buy them for the spare parts,” he says. Another hot product is mobile phones and their accessories, both new and second-hand. “Many sellers have small cellphone outlets elsewhere. When they accumulate models which are no longer manufactured or sold by mobile brands, they bring them here and sell it for half-price without guarantee cards,” explains Shahul. “They get rid of their stock and we get mobiles that work,” says Shashidharan, a regular customer at the sandhai for the last five years.


A long shot


It’s a hit-and-miss affair with products here, adds Shashidharan. He once bought a second-hand remote that claimed to work on any television set but didn’t do so. His spoil for today is a clock backlit by fluorescent lights shining through water with floating plastic fish in it. Through the years he’s frequented the sandhai, Shashidharan says he’s seen it expand to include stalls that sell more than just electronics. Some electronic stalls now stock new film DVDs and music CDs; others have cardboard boxes full of old cassettes with Tamil songs and well-used VCD tapes. Those like Pandian have set up stalls selling rubber chappals for Rs. 20, feeding off the sandhai’s constant crowd. “Through the week we sell at Race Course and we bring the excess here on Sundays,” he says. He is accompanied by a chat-walla, mosambi-juice seller and others peddling clothes.


The sandhai gets most of its footfall thanks to the buses that stop on N.H. Road and make their way to the heart of Town Hall. “Each of us gets 90 to 100 customers and altogether at least a 1,000 people come through each Sunday,” says Shahul.


Each stall usually has a huge crowd milling around it, few among them buying though, most just looking to replicate the bargains others make. Eavesdrop on a few conversations and you’ll hear a fair smattering of Hindi, for many migrant labourers from North India come to the sandhai for second-hand products that could make their short stay here more comfortable. Besides those buying, there are those looking to sell old goods too. As we speak, a man offers Shahul a walkman from the 90s. “Not interested,” says Shahul pointing to the walkmans he’s already got to sell. As others stand in the unforgiving heat, peering over Shahul’s wares, he gets himself a lime juice to last him through the second half of this sandhai Sunday.










via The Hindu Newspaper http://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/secondhand-sandhai/article4670481.ece

Celebrating wanderlust






Should it be Peru, Jaffna or the Northern Lights? Bangaloreans are heading to new destinations this summer, observes Asha Chowdary



Bangaloreans, have adventure on their mind and are looking out for exciting ways to spend the summer vacations. Whether it is soaking in the freshness of an Amazonian rain forest, following the Hobbit Trail in New Zealand or cooking up a storm of paella in Valencia, there are plenty of new holiday spots to explore and avid travellers in the city are doing just that.


Says Syed Faheem, head of the travel division, Kirloskar Group, "Peru is a hot destination this year for its tropical climate and the rainforests." The Machu Picchu is one of Peru’s most popular and lucrative tourist sites. Finland, with its many lakes, reindeer sleigh rides, beautiful summers in Helsinki and the sight of the Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights, is a country of contrasts and colours. "People also love the fact that it is quite economical to visit this country," says Faheem, adding, “There has been a 35 per cent increase in the number of tourists visiting Finland.


Suchitra Kaul Misra, a Bangalorean plans to go to Alaska on a cruise this year. "Over the years, we have explored all sorts of holiday spots. In India itself, the mountains, deserts, beaches, temples offer an incredible range. There comes a time when you want to explore new frontiers and also enjoy a holiday where you can relax in style."


For Suchitra, a cruise seemed the best way to see several exotic destinations without having to haul luggage to a new hotel every night. "Ocean cruising is leisure travel with a different tourist appeal and some may even be an experience in transition. With global warming and environmental changes, the Alaskan glaciers are receding every year. Many are on the verge of disappearing altogether. Alaskan animals are on the endangered list too. To minimize the impact on Alaska’s natural environment, the number of cruise ships and sailing period is restricted. So the most compelling reason to go to these special places is that their awe-inspiring experience may not be there for long."


"Also, Alaska has always been on my must-see list of travel goals. As I am from Kashmir, I love pristine mountains and I am told that the views all along the cruise coastline are more beautiful than I can imagine," she adds.


Alaska is on top of the charts of many Bangaloreans who want to enjoy the spectacular views of snow capped mountains, glaciers, cascading waterfalls and the northern lights. Another Bangalorean traveller, Sonal Asgotraa visited Antarctica recently and found it to be a wonderful place. "Forever associated with stories of exploration, courage and heroism, Antarctica has captured the imagination for different reasons. The continent re-defined my perspective of the earth as I knew it. Profoundly silent and frozen in time, the place is breathtakingly beautiful. Tourism activities, if any, should be managed very responsibly since Antarctica is extremely fragile, pristine and endangered."


Sonal’s journey to the bottom of earth began as a team member of the International Antarctic Expedition and it proved to an adventure to remember. "Cruising under the ever-sunlit skies of the Antarctic, every moment was more surreal than the last. One of the highlights of the trip was to camp on the Antarctic ice. Lying in our sleeping bags under a spectacular star-studded sky and the Milky Way radiating in all its glory, the clarity of the night was unlike anything that we had ever seen before."


Another highlight her trip was to witness the effects of climate change first-hand. Watching radically receded glaciers, retreated ice cover and broken off icebergs was both worrisome and appalling. There were some scary moments, but everything added to the sense of adventure which Sonal loves. "Sailing to Antarctica involves negotiating a rough ride through the waves of terror, the most treacherous stretch of sea, Drake Passage. The open ocean between the tip of South America and the Antarctic Peninsula is renowned for its fierce, unforgiving, and fickle nature. Our vessel was being consistently hit by waves as high as eight meters that had the entire crew staggering across the ship deck.I can now emphatically say that this was a voyage of a million lifetimes."


According to Kavita Amarnath, travel professional, many Bangalore travellers are also choosing trips to North India, instead of Europe. "Himachal Pradesh and Kulu Manali are very popular. Tourists who have children with them look for places where there are activities for the kids but they want to enjoy the beauty of scenic places too."


Adds Faheem, "Jaffna in Sri Lanka is also very popular among Bangaloreans now because it has many undiscovered and unexplored regions. Destinations like Ireland, Australia and New Zealand are also in demand now."


Why do travellers now love the new and the unknown? Says Sonal, "The best thing about doing something adventurous is the richness of experience and the perspective that it brings to our lives. So often, we get so caught up in the madness of the mundane, that things that are really important get neglected. I strongly advocate bringing an adventurous streak into your life not just to widen horizons and enrich perceptions but also to know first-hand the vagaries of nature. As they say, ‘We travel, initially, to lose ourselves and we travel, next, to find ourselves’. In that sense exploring new places guides us toward a better balance of wisdom and compassion -- of seeing the world clearly and yet feeling it truly. For seeing without feeling can obviously be uncaring; while feeling without seeing can be blind."


Suchitra adds, "The best thing about doing new stuff is the opportunity it gives us to expand our horizons. Nowadays we are fortunate to have such an abundance of choices in adventure holidays that we can choose from."









via The Hindu Newspaper http://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/travel/celebrating-wanderlust/article4670568.ece

Sports in pictures





via The Hindu Newspaper http://www.thehindu.com/sport/other-sports/sports-in-pictures/article4670525.ece

30th April 2013



Mr. C.K. Kuppuraj Rao (Ranga Vittala Dasan) passed away on 28.04.2013. Phone: 044-2263 2951 / Mobile: 98404-97669.


Dr. C.K. Kalyana Sundaram, Director of Animal Husbandry (Retd), Govt. of Tamil Nadu passed away on 27.04.2013. Phone: 044-2626 6567.


Mr. Mani Venkataraman, S/o. late Mr. K.V. Mani Iyer passed away on 28.04.2013. Mobile: 98409-11155 / 98840-66221.


Mrs. T.V. Rajammal, W/o. late Mr. K.G. Harihara Iyer passed away on 29.04.2013. No.46/14, Mangapathy Street, Perambur Barracks, Chennai – 600 012. Phone: 044-2662 5033 / Mobile: 99406-69927.


Mr. V.T. Chakrapani (VTC), Retd. Tahsildar – Revenue Dept., Chengalpattu District) passed away on 27.04.2013. Dasagam on 06.05.2013 at Mukthi Karma Trust, Plot No.10-12, Vidya Nagar, Ullagaram, Chennai – 91. Mobile: 94865-86760 / 98401-86770.


Mr. V. Srinivasan, Ex.Senior General Manager, BHEL passed away on 29.04.2013. A-1, 116, Achala Vihar, B-5, II Street, 8th Main Road, Anna Nagar, Chennai – 600 040. Phone: 044-2620 1034 / Mobile: 94449-36469.


More In: Obituary






via The Hindu Newspaper http://www.thehindu.com/obituary/30th-april-2013/article4670571.ece

Monday, April 29, 2013

News in Pictures





via The Hindu Newspaper http://www.thehindu.com/news/news-in-pictures/article4669683.ece

Captain Rohit guides Mumbai Indians to victory





via The Hindu Newspaper http://www.thehindu.com/sport/ipl2013/match-photos/captain-rohit-guides-mumbai-indians-to-victory/article4667470.ece

NSL Renewable Power raises $ 60 m





NSL Renewable Power Pvt. Ltd., a part of the Hyderabad-based NSL Group, has entered into investment agreements to the tune of $60 million with a group of international investors, including private equity firms. The company has an installed capacity of 185 MW — wind 148 MW, solar (20 MW), biomass (12 MW) and hydel (5 MW). The company had raised $60 million previously, and the proceeds of this tranche of investments would be used to fuel further growth. The investment would help NRPPL to more than double its capacity, according to NSL Group Chairman M. Prabhakar Rao.



More In: Industry | Business







via The Hindu Newspaper http://www.thehindu.com/business/Industry/nsl-renewable-power-raises-60-m/article4667270.ece

Kaleidoscope: Kerala





via The Hindu Newspaper http://www.thehindu.com/features/kids/kaleidoscope-kerala/article4666307.ece

Kaleidoscope: North India





via The Hindu Newspaper http://www.thehindu.com/features/kids/kaleidoscope-north-india/article4666248.ece

Sunday, April 28, 2013

This boat is here to stay





via The Hindu Newspaper http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Kochi/this-boat-is-here-to-stay/article4664006.ece

Vegetable for all seasons





The Hindu Bottle gourds arranged neatly in a heap at Swaraj Maidan Rythu Bazar in Vijayawada. Photo: Ch. Vijaya Bhaskar


More In: Vijayawada






via The Hindu Newspaper http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Vijayawada/vegetable-for-all-seasons/article4663086.ece

No dearth of entertainment





The Hindu TIME TO RELAX: The giant wheel and other amusement rides are a hit among children at the Government Chithirai Exhibition in the city. Photo: G. Moorthy


More In: Madurai






via The Hindu Newspaper http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Madurai/no-dearth-of-entertainment/article4663004.ece

Saturday, April 27, 2013

Royal win for Rajasthan





via The Hindu Newspaper http://www.thehindu.com/sport/ipl2013/royal-win-for-rajasthan/article4660831.ece

Protest against Sarabjit attack





Congress workers shout slogans during a protest against Pakistan over attack on Indian prisoner Sarabjit in Lahore jail, in Mumbai on Saturday. Photo: PTI






via The Hindu Newspaper http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/protest-against-sarabjit-attack/article4660801.ece

Major Anup Joseph awarded Kirti Chakra











  • President Pranab Mukherjee presenting 'Shaurya Chakra' (from right to left) to Captain Manish Singh, wife of Captain A Rahul Ramesh (posthumous) from Corps of Engineers and wife of Naik Krishan Kumar (posthumous) from Sikh Light Infantry, during Defence Investiture Ceremony, at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on Saturday. Photo: Shanker Chakravarty




  • President Pranab Mukherjee presents 'Kirti Chakra' to Major Anup Joseph Manjali (Bihar Regiment), during Defence Investiture Ceremony in New Delhi on Saturday. Photo: Shanker Chakravarty











12 other defence personnel get Shaurya Chakra



Major Anup Joseph Manjali was on Saturday awarded the second-highest peacetime gallantry award Kirti Chakra by President Pranab Mukherjee here for killing three foreign militants in Jammu and Kashmir.


Twelve defence personnel were awarded the Shaurya Charkra for their acts of bravery including Captain A Rahul Ramesh and Naik Krishna Kumar who were given the honour posthumously.


Manjali, who was deployed in Jammu and Kashmir with the 24 Rashtriya Rifles battalion, had established a close cordon around five foreign terrorists while leading a counter-terrorist operation there on October 1 last year.


“The officer displaying raw courage crawled up to the entrance of the Dhok and lobbed a hand grenade to flush out terrorists resulting in elimination of one terrorist on the spot,” his citation read.


When the other terrorists attempted to escape, he chased them and “shot dead two more dreaded terrorists from a distance of approximately twenty meters in a most daring act.”


Naik Krishan Kumar was given the award for his role in a crisis in Congo where the Indian Army is involved as part of the UN Peacekeeping Mission.


Captain A Rahul Ramesh, an Engineer with the Border Roads Organisation, was conferred the award for saving the life of his colleague while carrying out a bridge construction operation in Uttarakhand last year.


The Shaurya Chakra awardees include Captain Manish Singh of 9 Para (SF), who was badly injured in a terrorist operation in Jammu and Kashmir.


The officer received the award from the President on a wheel chair. 10 senior officers were awarded the PVSM while 31 of them were given the AVSM.


A number of senior serving and retired defence officers were present on the occasion including former IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal S P Tyagi. He is facing a CBI inquiry at the moment for his alleged role in the VVIP chopper scam.



Keywords: bravery awards



More In: National | News







via The Hindu Newspaper http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/major-anup-joseph-awarded-kirti-chakra/article4660697.ece

Cinema Quiz





Questions


1. What are the disguises that the three brothers adopt in the climax of the popular entertainer Amar Akbar Anthony?


2. Name Aishwarya R. Dhanush’s planned second directorial venture, starring Gautam Karthik, after 3?


3. Who played Porus to Prithviraj Kapoor’s Alexander in the black-and-white classic Sikandar?


4. Name the two singers in the very popular duet ‘Kajra Mohabbat Wala’ in Kismat.


5. Name the director of the upcoming flick Vanakkam Chennai, who is the daughter-in-law of a leading political figure in Tamil Nadu.


6. Who were the lead pair in the hit Aashiqui whose ‘sequel’ was released recently to not-so-good reviews?


7. Which popular composer’s Hindi film career began with Shomu Mukherjee’s Nanha Shikharji in 1973?


8. Which Oscar-winner plays the protagonist in Grace Of Monaco, being directed by Olivier Dahan?


9. Whose samadhi at Khandwa has the epitaph Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna?


10. Name the Indian actress who would be on the jury for the feature film section at Cannes this year.


Answers


1. All-in-one musician (Amar), tailor (Akbar) and priest (Anthony).


2. Vai Raja Vai.


3. Sohrab Modi, the director


of the film.


4. Shamshad Begum and Asha Bhosle.


5. Kiruthiga Udhayanidhi, daughter-in-law of DMK’s M.K. Stalin.


6. Rahul Roy and Anu Agarwal.


7. Bappi Lahiri.


8. Nicole Kidman.


9. Kishore Kumar.


10. Vidya Balan.



Keywords: cinema quiz










via The Hindu Newspaper http://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/cinema-quiz/article4660382.ece

Friday, April 26, 2013

64% revenue loss due to water thefts in city





The Non-Revenue Water Management (NRWM) wing and anti-theft unit of the Kerala Water Authority, central region, has reported a loss of 64 per cent in revenue because of water thefts in the city. Non-domestic consumers account for the majority of such thefts.


The authority has so far collected Rs. 19.16 lakh out of the estimated dues of Rs. 22.86 lakh from the defaulters. Revenue recovery cases have been registered against four major defaulters and the amount they have to pay is Rs. 3.69 lakh.


At a major bakery in the city, the connection was cut when it owed Rs. 59,108 as dues. However, the connection had to be restored without recovering the dues. The bakery now has an amount of Rs. 1.24 lakh as dues.


One of the lodges in Kaloor has to pay Rs.1.39 lakh to the water authority. The lodge’s connection was cut on November 22, 2012. It was restored later but cut again in December. Another lodge owner has dues of Rs. 76,760. This lodge was working on a domestic connection and in 2005, the meter reader had reported that the meter at the lodge was in “not working” condition.


Another lodge was functioning using three connections with one meter not in working condition. This line was found to be connected to a motor set. Water authority officials had to confront political interference in this case before submitting their report.


A hotel was found to use 534 kilo litres of water while it paid bills for only 30 kl. Another hotel with two connections paid bills for 78 kl and 41 kl but it has been found to have consumed 297 kl and 312 kl respectively on each connection.


“If the water supplied is all accounted for, the Kerala Water Authority can come out of its losses”, said K.M. Siddique, assistant executive engineer, who heads the NRWM unit here. Only 104 million litres (mld) of water out of the 168 mld supplied is accounted for.


Of the approximate 1.80 lakh connections in the city, the NRWM team could inspect only 1,000 connections from July 2012. The team has been conducting checks after getting information from meter readers.




More In: Kochi







via The Hindu Newspaper http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Kochi/64-revenue-loss-due-to-water-thefts-in-city/article4658207.ece

Pollution threatening water bodies





The Hindu IN DEEP WATERS: Pollution of canals and other water bodies in Ernakulam is a major cause for concern. — Photo: Vipin Chandran




Water bodies in the district are under severe threat of pollution and if it goes unchecked it will soon lead to an environmental disaster. In the wake of growing threat of climate change and increasing awareness of environmental protection, will the authorities chalk out a plan to clean up all the water bodies in the district and to control pollution? And also spread awareness among the people about the importance of preserving our precious water resources?


Neelima K M, Vyttila


District Collector Sheikh Pareeth:


The Kerala High Court has given several directives for the conservation and protection of water bodies. But, people dumping waste into canals and other water sources is a cause for concern. We will take up measures such as protecting the boundaries of the canals with wire mesh to a certain height to stop the depositing of waste materials.


Water bodies should be de-silted to remove silt and other unwanted materials for which the Irrigation Department has been asked to prepare reports. In my opinion, it is the right time to think of using water transport. We will have transportation vessels from Vyttila to Infopark within a month. The Kadambrayar River is also a major natural water source in the city.


The busy Vyttila Junction does not have a Supplyco supermarket. There are Supplyco outlets on MG Road, Panampilly Nagar and Gandhi Nagar. Local residents have to go to the city braving the traffic to purchase necessary items from these outlets. If an outlet of Supplyco is opened at Vyttila Junction it will be useful to residents of the area and also to persons frequenting this junction. Hope the authorities concerned will look into this.


--Beena Job, Vyttila


District Collector Sheikh Pareeth:


The request of the reader for a Supplyco supermarket in Vyttila is a genuine one and we have taken up the matter with the authorities concerned. We will discuss the issue to ascertain the progress at the next District Development Committee meeting.


There is a barricade on either side of a pocket road connecting Bund Road and Janatha Road causing inconvenience to motorists. Hope the authorities look into this and do the needful to facilitate smooth flow of traffic.


--Aravind K.N., Vyttila


Police Commissioner K.G. James:


It appears that the barricade has been kept for laying water pipeline to a residential apartment. We have to find out whether those involved have obtained permission to set up the barricade for the work, and, if so, for how many days. Suitable action will be initiated.


Compiled by


K.K. Sankaran



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Talks on for consensus on metro rail land acquisition





The district level purchase committee (DLPC) entrusted with fixing the value of land to be acquired for setting up metro rail stations has initiated discussions to reach a consensus with land owners.


Main focus


The talks chaired by District Collector P.I. Sheikh Pareeth are being held based on the prices initially fixed by DLPC. The discussion on Tuesday focused on determining the price of land to be acquired for stations at Edappally High School Junction, Kaloor bus stand, Thykoodam, and Pettah and for the Seematti corridor.


At Edappally, 8.50 cents need to be acquired, at Kaloor bus stand 2.4 cents, whereas at Elamkulam 2.64 cents need to be acquired. Notification has been issued for acquiring 1.17 acres at Thykoodam and 1.37 acres at Pettah. Twenty-seven cents will be acquired for the Seematti corridor.


The district administration is aiming to complete the discussions within a week and to hand over the land to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC).


Sanction given


Administrative sanction has been received for acquiring land for metro stations at Pathadippalam, Aluva Bypass, Companyppady, Apollo Tyres, Edappally Junction, Pulinchodu, Palarivattom, Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium, Madhava Pharmacy, and Maharaja’s College. The alignment of these stations has been fixed.


DLPC meetings have been initiated close on the heels of the completion of land acquisition and the subsequent handing over of land to DMRC through Kochi Metro Rail Limited for the widening of Banerjee Road, M.G. Road, and South Railway Station Road, the construction of North and Salim Rajan railway overbridges, and foot overbridge and Muttom yard.


Once an understanding is reached with land owners about the value of the land to be acquired, the land will be immediately acquired by paying 80 per cent of the value.


The rest of the amount will be handed over subject to a decision of the State Level Purchase Committee.


Compensation will be given for buildings to be demolished.


If a consensus proves elusive in the meeting with landowners, then the district administration will resort to acquisition proceedings by invoking the Land Acquisition Act.


Deputy Collector in charge of metro K.P. Mohandas Pillai and representatives of KMRL attended the meeting.



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Registrations on for The Hindu pre-counselling programme






TOPICS

education





Registration is in progress for the pre-counselling guidance programmes to be conducted by The Hindu-EducationPlus at Hotel Joys Palace in Thrissur on May 9.


The programmes are intended for students seeking admission to courses in various professional streams after completing their Plus-Two.


Registration is free. It is on a first-come-first-served basis. The programmes will help students get an overview of key courses.


S. Rajoo Krishnan, former Joint Commissioner for Entrance Examinations, will speak on the online seat allotment process.


The programmes will highlight the main factors to be borne in mind while exercising options in the engineering and other streams.


Aspects of career planning will be touched upon.


Those who wish to take part may register their names through e-mail: ep@thehindu.co.in


Each applicant should furnish his/her address and phone number. Registration forms are also available at the office of The Hindu in Thrissur at Second Floor, Hamriya Complex, Shoranur Road (telephone: 0487-2320711, 2321411).


Similar programmes are also being organized in Kannur on May 6, Kozhikode on May 7, Kochi on May 10, and Thiruvananthapuram on May 18.


The State Bank of India, local head office is the presenting sponsor and the Co-operative Academy for Professional Education the associate sponsor of the programmes. Asianet News is the TV Partner.


An interactive session led by a panel of experts will be a highlight.


Students may seek information and get their doubts clarified at this session. A handbook on professional courses will be provided to each participant free of cost.


It contains information on course-college selection process, professional courses on offer, engineering course and college selection and the scope of other domains.



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Rs.805-crore water project for district





Minister for Water Resources P.J. Joseph has said that a new project worth Rs.805 crore will be implemented for supplying more drinking water to the district, including areas like Thrikkakara.


He was inaugurating the new section office and collection centre of Kerala Water Authority at Thrikkakara.


Mr. Joseph said that Kochi had not received much benefit from the HUDCO project. He said that a larger project worth Rs.5,000 crore, encompassing the Rs. 805 crore-project, had been forwarded for the consideration of the Union government realising the need for supplying more piped water. The minister said that the city will receive 109 million litres per day (MLD) water under this project.


The State had realised the importance of drinking water supply with the onset of severe drought this year. The canals in the State had to be repaired for facilitating increased water flow. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy had also agreed to give preference to this.


Mr. Joseph said that conservation of water through rain water harvesting units should also be made mandatory. Benny Behanan, MLA, presided.



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Apartment now an asset, not abode





The Hindu Apartments are being promoted as a profitable investment option by real estate groups.




With investment in real estate yielding good returns, apartments are being promoted as a profitable investment option by real estate groups.


Many of the apartments are furnished, but rarely used before changing hands after years of purchase.


Representatives of several builders admitted that the occupancy levels in apartments were as low as 25-30 per cent. A spokesman of Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association of India (Credai) said the occupancy levels varied depending on the builder as well as the location.


Only about 30 per cent of the apartments were occupied by owners because for most buyers it was a means of investment, said Habish. K., senior manager (sales and marketing), Hoysala Projects Private Limited.


But escalation in prices is mainly on account of skyrocketing land prices and not because of the individual investment in apartments.


Low-cost housing projects were possible only in city outskirts where the land could be available at cheaper rates, he said.


The maximum input cost in any project comes from land. A decade ago, the situation was different when land was a minor factor in pricing. The cost of land has pushed up the prices of apartments from about Rs.100 per sq. ft. 15 years ago to Rs.3,000-Rs.3,500 per sq. ft. today.


Subrahmanyam, vice-president of real estate venture Superstone Properties, said 70 per cent of buyers of apartment complexes in Kerala were NRIs. Among them are people who plan to return to the State after a few years. The apartments remain locked for a long time before being utilised. There are others who want to sell the units at a premium later.


“The high land cost prevents builders from going for budget apartments. The land, labour and tax rates remain the same for luxury as well as budget homes,”he said.


K. Vijayachandran, head of Cochin Centre for Policy Initiatives, a non-government organisation, said ineffective implementation of land use policy had given rise to the trend. He wondered as to whether the ever increasing land prices would generate a real estate bubble that could burst as had happened in the West, spurring economic slowdown.


There should be restrictions on holding idle landed property. A land use policy framework is required for every local body as per the Land Use Act. But the rule is never enforced, resulting in large-scale misuse of land. “Rational use of land is essential in Kerala which is facing land scarcity. Detailed town planning should be made applicable in cities which will prevent the large-scale misuse of land and speculation in real estate. Large holdings should be heavily taxed,” he said.


K.J. Sohan, chairman of Town Planning Standing Committee of Kochi Corporation, said the development model adopted by most builders was not suitable for Kochi. The population growth within the corporation limits during a decade, as per census, was 5.5 per cent whereas the real estate growth was around 10 per cent. “It is a reflection of bad economics and poor social justice. The focus should be on constructing low-cost shelters for people who do not have high purchasing power”, he said.



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Baby abandoned on train





The Hindu Steps are being take to trace the parents of the male child, believed to be about a month old, who was abandoned on a train — Photo R. Ravindran





RPF personnel found infant in coach of Dadar Express



On Friday morning, Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel were greeted with a unique passenger — a baby boy, believed to be about one month old, abandoned on a train.


According to the RPF, some passengers of the S7 coach of Dadar Express, which had just commenced its journey from Chennai Egmore at 6.50 a.m., spotted the baby lying on a berth. “There was no one next to it,” said an RPF officer.


The passengers informed the ticket collector, who passed on the information to station authorities.


RPF personnel stopped the train at Beach station and rescued the baby.


“We almost never find newborn infants abandoned. A few women RPF personnel fed the baby, as it appeared hungry,” said the officer.


The RPF sent the infant to Don Bosco Anbu Illam, a non-governmental organisation.


Steps are being taken to trace the parents with the help of CCTV cameras at various stations, the officer said.


“No one has claimed the infant as yet. We do not know if it was abandoned or abducted and then left,” said the officer.


According to the RPF, a large number of children are found at the city’s railway stations every year.


Until March this year, 68 minor children were found, while the figure stood at 203 and 225 for the 2012 and 2011 respectively.


Staff members of Don Bosco Anbu Illam said this was the second child they had taken in this year.


“Usually no one comes searching for these children. They just grow up here,” said a staff member.



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Inter II year results today





Intermediate second year results will be declared on Friday at 4 p.m. at the Board of Intermediate Education (BIE) office by Minister for Secondary Education, K. Parthasarathy.










via The Hindu Newspaper http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/andhra-pradesh/inter-ii-year-results-today/article4656762.ece

Fees in VMCs gyms, stadiums, pools increased





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Seven child marriages prevented in Krishna district





via The Hindu Newspaper http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Vijayawada/seven-child-marriages-prevented-in-krishna-district/article4656698.ece

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Day in pictures





via The Hindu Newspaper http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/day-in-pictures/article4656456.ece

News in pictures





via The Hindu Newspaper http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/news-in-pictures/article4656453.ece

Captain's knock steers CSK to victory





via The Hindu Newspaper http://www.thehindu.com/sport/ipl2013/match-photos/captains-knock-steers-csk-to-victory/article4655267.ece

Political parties leaving no stone unturned to woo electorate








True to the popular belief that the elections to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly will be a semi-final to the elections to the Lok Sabha expected to be held in mid-2014, national leaders of the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party have commenced their campaign here in full gusto.


Senior leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party — L.K. Advani, Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley — are already in the thick of campaigning here and did their best to draw the attention of the voters in various towns across the State on Sunday, while the top brass of the Congress, including AICC president Sonia Gandhi and the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, will be here over the next few days criss-crossing the State to woo the electorate. Ironically the issues being raised by the national leaders pertain to subjects not really relevant to the Assembly elections barring of course the misrule by the BJP and the corruption charges made out against it.


Vice-president of the AICC Rahul Gandhi was in the Raichur and Bijapur districts on Tuesday on a whirlwind visit and is expected to follow it up with further visits over the next week. The Congress has also roped in the Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, Kiran Reddy and Oomen Chandy, to garner the votes of the Telugu and the Malayalam speaking population which is in a big number in the districts bordering Andhra Pradesh and in Bangalore.


Defence Minister A.K. Antony who heads the Congress Coordination Committee for the legislative assembly elections, and Congress leader Ambika Soni will also be campaign in various parts of the State apart from the four Union Ministers from Karnataka — K.H. Muniyappa, M. Veerappa Moily, K. Rahman Khan and M. Mallikarjun Kharge.


While senior leaders of the two national parties may not be really conversant with the local problems in the Assembly constituencies where they address although they may be aware of the States issues vis-à-vis the Union government apart from the political issues, it should be noted that prominent national leaders can provide the right advantage to the candidates with their oratory and the power to draw the attention of the people. It is also another way of reducing election expenditure of candidates given the fact that the Election Commission of India is closely monitoring the expenditure incurred by each candidate and Rs. 16 lakh is the upper limit for such costs.


In the view of the Congress spokesperson and former MLC Prakash Rathod, the involvement of the national leaders has had an electrifying effect in electioneering since they have been capable of drawing large crowds apart from motivating the party workers. The speeches and personal interaction of the top political leaders at public meetings has been proven over time that they are much beneficial than advertisements in the media or the individual campaign by candidates.


While Mr. Advani campaigned over the weekend at Ranebennur and Davangere, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Ms Swaraj, addressed a rally in Bangalore and Rajnath Singh campaigned in parts of Belgaum. An important campaigner for the BJP will also be Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and he is expected to address a string of meetings in several districts. His itinerary is however yet to be announced.


Over 3,600 candidates are in the fray for the May 5 elections and counting of votes is scheduled for May 8. The campaign by the national leaders apparently with a focus on the elections to the Lok Sabha has added a new dimension to the issues in Karnataka being heard at the national level.



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New courses, facilities in music, dance colleges





THE HINDU Two years ago, the State government introduced music classes in its schools. Carnatic musician Nithyashree Mahadevan is seen at the inauguration of one such class in 2011 — File Photo: S.S. Kumar





Traditional dance festivals to be held in Tiruvannamalai, Thanjavur from this year



The government on Thursday announced a slew of measures for the promotion of traditional art forms in the State.


These include special courses in fine arts, improvement of facilities in government-run colleges and steps to improve quality of education in these institutions.


The government has proposed to launch special courses at its music colleges in Chennai, Coimbatore and Madurai from this year. For this purpose, the government has allocated Rs. 3.01 crore.


The courses will be conducted in the evenings and during weekends for the benefit of homemakers and college students who wish to earn an additional degree. Similar courses will be conducted in dance too, said Vaigaichelvan, minister for school education, sports and youth welfare.


The government has allotted Rs. 1 crore for building workshops in all seven government colleges. A sum of Rs. 12 lakh has been allotted for appointing honorary lecturers in the music colleges.


The two fine arts colleges will also receive funds to upgrade facilities such as digital communication centres.


In an effort to upgrade the institutions, the government has proposed to set up an advisory board comprising experts. This apart, all colleges will also receive funds to purchase vehicles.


While some members raised the issue of increasing the stipend for students, others sought respite for indigent, elderly traditional artistes. The minister said the government would consider their demands.


Promoting tourism


Tourism minister P. Chendur Pandian announced in the Assembly that in order to improve tourist footfalls in the State, open air auditoriums will be built in Tiruvannamalai, Thanjavur and Rameswaram.


In Tiruvannamalai and Thanjavur, the government has proposed to conduct a traditional dance festival, starting this year.


A sum of Rs. 5 lakh for this programme, he said.



Keywords: dance courses



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Soothsayer hacked to death by gang of five in Choolai





The Hindu The victim, Janakiraman alias Pachi Samigal




A 45-year-old soothsayer was hacked to death in Choolai on Thursday morning.


According to the police, Janakiraman alias Pachi Samigal lived on C.K.P. Koil Street in Choolai with his wife Indira and their two children. According to the police, he practised soothsaying and sorcery.


Janakiraman’s family said he would often visit a tea shop on the adjacent street in the morning hours. On Thursday, around 7 a.m., when he was walking towards the junction a few feet away from his house, a gang of five attacked him with sharp weapons. “Hearing his cries, we rushed to the spot and found him barely alive. His jewellery was stuck inside the cuts. We rushed him to the government general hospital, but he died on the way. The last thing he asked was for some water,” said Anand, his nephew.


Three of the suspects — Appu, Sarathy and Veera — surrendered in the Saidapet court on Thursday. The police are hunting for the other two persons.


Neighbours described him as a compassionate person. “He always used to get tea and food for people who gathered near the tea shop and only after this he returned home. He always used to help others. We do not understand who would have wanted to murder him,” said a resident of the locality.


He has been living in the locality for the past seven years. “He started soothsaying 18 years back after he went to a temple in Melmalayanur,” said a resident.


The police said the suspects were residents of the same street. “He was into sorcery and that was suspected to be the reason behind two persons of nearby streets, including a college student, committing suicide,” said a police officer.


The police said Janakiraman’s practices had frightened the residents.



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via The Hindu Newspaper http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/soothsayer-hacked-to-death-by-gang-of-five-in-choolai/article4654661.ece

Indecent Proposals






Colleges crack down on Facebook pages that were set up for fun but have emerged as hubs of abuse



It looks like the ‘fun’ is finally over. Colleges have started cracking down on the Facebook confessions and proposals pages created by their students in the light of complaints from parents and fellow students. Many students, especially girls, feel the content in these pages, posted by anonymous users, is disturbing and demeaning.


The proposals pages are full of posts about the feelings that students have for their fellows, crushes and unrequited love. The identity of the students posting these declarations is anonymous. However, noted Shankari, a student of a private engineering college, the subjects of these posts are most often easily identifiable. “For instance, talking about the tallest girl in chemical engineering or the girl from Tambaram who drives a pink Scooty or the bespectacled girl in mechanical engineering does not leave much unclear. The intention is to make the subject uncomfortable.” Sarlaksha, a student of Jeppiar Institute of Technology, agreed. “It is only the boys who have all the fun,” she said.


Many of these posts are derogatory too, felt students. “The fat girl from the computer science department or the s*** from civil engineering, or the girl from sociology who changes her boyfriend every week — posts such as these are full of vicious gossip, mindless teasing, and descend to the depths of vulgarity. Incidentally, both the subjects of such posts and even some who feel they are being ignored tend to get depressed,” said Asha Mathew, a student of an engineering college in Tambaram. Asha and 70 other female students recently gave a letter to their college principal demanding a check on the posts.


An official from Sathyabama University said counsellors and teachers have been asked to find out the details of students running such pages and warn them against putting up inappropriate content.


The principal of a private engineering college said he had recently addressed students on this issue. “In a recent meeting, parents told us they were worried about the safety of their children, particularly in the context of confessions and proposals pages. It was then that we decided to ask students to take the pages off,” he said.


Besides confessions and proposals pages, many colleges have separate pages wherein users can post ‘event related news.’


“Who was seen with whom during cultural fests and tech fests is a subject of discussion. Sometimes, even pictures are posted. It has become a threat page — many of my friends deleted their Facebook accounts because they feared someone would tag them,” said Abhirami Suri, a student.


“There are references to the way you eat chicken, the clothes you wear, and how often you wear the same clothes. These can be disturbing at different levels,” she added.


A student-administrator of the proposals page of a college said he started the page after similar pages were set up in other institutions. “The page was so popular that we used to get over 300 posts every day. We started moderating it after some posts became very vulgar. Now, we get 100 posts every day, of which 20 can be posted.”


“Some colleges have more than one proposals page and some of these are not even moderated. Many posts are taken out only after they are reported as abusive. The saddest part is that the four administrators of the proposals page of our college all passed out long ago,” a student said.


While many colleges, especially the engineering ones, have strictly asked the students to take off the pages, some are trying to talk to them.


However, some of these attempts are clearly going the wrong way. “Often, since it is difficult to identify the people who run the page or post the comments, they focus on identifying the subjects of the posts. In most colleges, teachers mark our internals and we fear they will have a bad impression of us, because a stupid post named us,” said P. Meenakshi, a student.


Counsellor Archana Paneerselvam said the posts can be emotionally damaging to first-year students, particularly. “For them, it is often a time of discovering themselves and forging new bonds. Arbitrary posts with demeaning content threaten relationships.”


“Also, there is no way of verifying the authenticity of the posts, she added. And most often, when intricate details of your life are spilled out, you start suspecting your own friends. Posts, especially those that are suggestive or even a little vulgar, cannot be taken sportingly,” she added




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Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Bangladesh building collapse toll rises to 142





Rescuers in Bangladesh had recovered at least 142 bodies by early Thursday from the rubble of a collapsed eight-storey building that housed mostly garment factories, media reports said.


More than 1,000 people were reported to have been injured in Wednesday’s collapse of the Rana Plaza building near Dhaka. A ninth floor was under construction at the time, Bangladesh’s Daily Star newspaper reported.


Many people were reported to be still trapped inside the remains of the building which had been compressed to the height of a two-storey building, the report said.


“We are going to bore holes through the roof and go inside,” said Brigadier General Mohammad Siddiqul Alam Sikder, who is in charge of the rescue operation. “We have to be extremely careful.”










via The Hindu Newspaper http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/south-asia/bangladesh-building-collapse-toll-rises-to-142/article4652945.ece

News in pictures





via The Hindu Newspaper http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/news-in-pictures/article4652926.ece

Day in pictures





via The Hindu Newspaper http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/day-in-pictures/article4652916.ece

Ferrer knocked out






TOPICS

sport


tennis





Russia’s Dmitry Tursunov stunned David Ferrer 7-5, 3-6, 6-1 on Wednesday to knock the top seed out in the second round of the ATP Barcelona Open.


World No. 4 Ferrer, losing finalist last month in Miami to Andy Murray, was seeded ahead of Rafael Nadal for the first time and had been dreaming of making amends after losing three finals in Barcelona to his career rival.


But the 66th-ranked qualifier Tursunov had his own agenda, which he executed in style in just under two hours to spoil the pre-French Open clay debut of Ferrer.


Canadian fifth seed Milos Raonic made an easy start over Eduardo Roger-Vasselin of French 6-4, 6-2, as the north American made up for a disappointing loss last week in the Monte Carlo second round.


Slovak 11th seed Martin Klizan beat Albert Montanes 6-3, 6-4 and veteran Spanish clay campaigner Tommy Robredo defeated Bulgarian 14th seed Grigor Dimitrov 7-5, 6-1.


German eighth seed Philipp Kohlschreiber also had a tough battle to reach the third round eventually prevailing in three sets over Russian Andrey Kuznetsov 6-3, 6-7(5), 7-6(2).


The results: Second round: Rafael Nadal bt Carlos Berlocq 6-4, 6-2; Dmitry Tursunov bt David Ferrer 7-5, 3-6, 6-1; Martin Klizan bt Albert Montanes 6-3, 6-4; Juan Monaco bt Bernard Tomic 6-0, 6-2; Milos Raonic bt Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-4, 6-2; Tommy Robredo bt Grigor Dimitrov 7-5, 6-1; Jeremy Chardy bt Paolo Lorenzi 6-2, 6-4; Tomas Berdych bt Nikolay Davydenko 3-6, 7-5, 6-4; Ernests Gulbis bt Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 6-4; Philipp Kohlschreiber bt Andrey Kuznetsov 6-3, 6-7(5), 7-6(2); Kei Nishikori bt Guillermo Olaso 6-1, 6-3; Thomaz Bellucci bt Pablo Carreno-Busta 6-7(5), 6-3, 7-5.


First round: Blaz Kavcic bt Alejandro Falla 6-3, 6-0; Bernard Tomic bt Kenny De Schepper 6-4, 4-6, 6-2; Eduardo Roger-Vasselin bt Jan Hajek 6-2, 6-7(1), 6-2; Carlos Berlocq bt Daniel Gimeno-Traver 7-5, 6-4; Blaz Kavcic bt Alejandro Falla 6-3, 6-0; Tommy Robredo bt Marc Lopez 2-6, 6-2, 6-2; Albert Ramos bt Jan-Lennard Struff 6-4, 7-6(2). — AFP



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Quality planting material key to better productivity in orchards





Workers grafting mango plants in a nursery. Photo: C.V.Subrahmanyam.




Any fruit crop is perennial in nature and takes a minimum of three years after planting to bear the first fruits.


“In spite of repeated cautioning, the farmers fail miserably in establishing their orchards due to faulty planting materials. Whenever due care is not taken to procure genuine planting materials, farmers will face a lot of problems in undertaking maintenance operations; thereby they lose their hope and incur heavy loss,” says Dr. M. Selvarajan, Professor and Head, Department of fruit crops, Horticultural College and Research Institute, Periyakulam, Tamil Nadu.


It is a big challenge to scientists and extension functionaries to motivate farmers to bestow personal attention in sourcing genuine quality planting materials.


Sudden drying


“In almost all the training programmes, the farmers complain about sudden drying of grafts even after 2 to 3 years, non-flowering of the trees even after 6-7 years, poor fruit setting, less yield and poor quality of fruits. The only reason for all these problems is that the farmers have not taken proper care to procure quality planting materials,” he says.


Though farmers are keen in procuring genuine planting materials they are unaware of the techniques in identifying the correct nurseries to source the right planting materials from. There are certain guidelines to be followed for selecting planting materials.


Nurseries should have a well maintained mother block (scion bank), which should have proper labeling of the variety, the nursery should maintain the documents for the source of planting materials for the mother block, the grafts should have proper labels of the variety and the date of grafting should be displayed.


Normally farmers procure the grafts without seeing the plants at the nurseries. One should realize that the fruit plants will start bearing only after four or five years and if the fruits are of poor quality, faulty planting materials are responsible and whatever money and energy have been spent are a waste.


Next question


After selecting the nurseries, the next question is how to identify and select the genuine and quality planting materials. An easy technique to identify the best quality planting material is that all the grafts of a particular variety should be uniform in their leaf characters. If variation is observed among the grafts displayed with the label of a particular variety, then these can be adjudged as faulty, poor quality planting materials. Further, the saleable grafts in the nurseries should be properly hardened before delivery which can be judged from the label displaying the date of grafting.


Minimum period


The grafts, before sale, should have been hardened for a minimum period of three months. In reputed nurseries, hardening is normally done by gradually exposing the grafts to open sunlight.


Another confusion which quite often bothers the farmers relates to what types of planting materials have to be used for different fruit crops. Except banana, acid lime and papaya most of the other fruit crops are cultivated by planting grafts.


Farmers usually prefer tall vigorous and two-year old approach grafts. But, considering the cost, difficulty in transport and poor field establishment, these grafts are not recommended for planting and at present it is recommended to plant soft-wood grafts. These two types of grafts exhibit good field establishment with less mortality and faster growth.


Since, these two methods are very easy and rapid, the nurserymen also have started producing these grafts. In recent times, the farmers have also realized that these grafts are better than the approach grafts.


“The Department of Fruit crops, Horticultural College and Research Institute, Periyakulam imparts need based trainings both for extension functionaries and farmers grafting technology. Farmers should come forward to learn these techniques to produce their own grafts. If the farmers learn to do this by themselves, then they can multiply their own planting materials,: says Dr. Selvarajan.


Suggestion


A word of caution for nurserymen is that they must always produce and supply true-to-type, quality planting materials at a reasonable cost to the farmers.


For more information contact Dr. M. Selvarajan, Professor and Head, Department of fruit crops, Horticultural college and research institute, Periyakulam, Tamil Nadu, email: smselva8@gmail.com, mobile: 9003027732, phone: 04546-231726.



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via The Hindu Newspaper http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/agriculture/quality-planting-material-key-to-better-productivity-in-orchards/article4651093.ece

Management tips for controlling mango hoppers





Three species of mango hoppers namely Idioscopus niveosparsus, Idioscopus clypealis and Amirtodus atkinsoni are serious pests in the entire mango growing regions of India.


They remain active throughout the year but the incidence is severe during the months from February to April.


Infested flowers shrivel, turn brown and ultimately fall off. Besides feeding injury, the hoppers also excrete honey dews on which black mould develops that interferes with photosynthesis and arrests new shoot development.


Poor fruit set


These damages result in weakening of the plants, reduction in fruit set and premature dropping of fruits, leading up to 60 per cent yield loss.


Egg laying starts from February to March. Each female lays around 150 eggs, laid singly by inserting into florets and stalk of the inflorescence. The eggs hatch in 4 to 7 days. Freshly hatched nymphs are white and gradually turn yellowish-green. They undergo 4-5 moultings in 10-13 days and become adults which are light greenish-brown in colour with black and yellow markings.


There may be 2-3 generations during the blossoming period. Adult hoppers are found all through the year hiding on the bark of the tree.


Management


Avoid close planting and prune dense orchards during winter for better light interception. Keep the orchard clean by regular ploughing and removal of weeds.


Collect and destroy affected inflorescence.


Spray Carbaryl at 2gm/lit, Phosalone 1.5ml/lit, Etofenprox 0.03 per cent, acephate 75 SP at 1gm/lit, or imidacloprid 0.2ml/lit twice in February and March.


The first spray should be given during flower formation stage and the second, two weeks after the first spray.


Wettable sulphur at2 gm/lit may be sprayed after spraying carbaryl to avoid mite resurgence.


(J. Jayaraj, Prof and R. K. Murali Baskaran Professor and Head, Dept. of Agrl. Entomology, Agricultural College and Research Institute, Madurai 625 104, email: vu2jrj@rediffmail.com, Phone:0452-2422956 Extn.214)



Keywords: mango hoppers



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via The Hindu Newspaper http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/agriculture/management-tips-for-controlling-mango-hoppers/article4651094.ece

Registration on for The Hindu-EducationPlus pre-counselling programme





Registrations are in progress for the pre-counselling guidance programmes being organised by The Hindu-EducationPlus in Kochi on May 10 for the benefit of students seeking admission to courses in various professional streams after their Plus-Two. Participation is free for the event, which is being conducted at Gokulam Convention Centre, Kaloor. Registrations are on a first-come-first-served basis.


The programmes will help students get an overview of key courses and the online seat allotment process conducted by the Commissioner for Entrance Examinations.


The main factors that have to be borne in mind while exercising options in engineering and other streams will be highlighted. Aspects of career planning would also be focused upon. Registrations can be done by e-mail: ep@thehindu.co.in. Each applicant should furnish his/her address and phone number. Registration forms are also available at the office of The Hindu in Kochi at N.H. Bypass Road, Vyttila Junction. (Telephone: 0484-2301653, 2307836)


Similar programmes are also being organised at other centres in Kerala - Thrissur on May 9, Kannur on May 6, Kozhikode on May 7 and Thiruvananthapuram on May 18.


State Bank of India, Local Head Office, is the presenting sponsor. Co-operative Academy for Professional Education and Hero MotoCorp Ltd. are the associate sponsors of the programmes. Asianet News is the TV partner.


An interactive session led by a panel of experts will be a highlight. Students can seek information and get their doubts clarified at this session. A well-produced handbook with information on aspects of the course-college selection process, the professional courses on offer, engineering course and college selection and the scope of other domains will be provided free of cost to each participant.



More In: Kochi







via The Hindu Newspaper http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Kochi/registration-on-for-the-hindueducationplus-precounselling-programme/article4651367.ece