Foreign tours, the new USP for Hyderabad schools

HYDERABAD: A batch of 30 students from the city spent a week at the US Space and Rocket Centre in Alabama last year, creating their own models of rockets, exploring the insides of space shuttles and discussing aerospace with local students, all as part of their academic curriculum.

Schools across the city are designing such out-of-the-box programmes to get the cutting edge over their rivals and ensure holistic development of students. The list is vast, with courses ranging from nature camps, life skills such as cooking and cleaning, professional drama workshops, industrial internships and even martial arts, all in foreign countries. Top city schools have at least one such course, which they believe is their USP.

"It is essential that students get the right kind of exposure in fields they are genuinely interested in. The idea of having such programmes is to look beyond a typical textbook approach," said Komal Singh, teacher at Nasr School, which had organised the space camp.

Gitanjali School in Begumpet has a tie up with close to 36 US universities, which gives their students a chance to explore options for further studies abroad. "Last year, there were only nine applicants for IIT from the school, which is an indication that students are keen to explore options in fields outside the traditional choices," said Maya Sukumaran, principal of the school.

Parents too are becoming increasingly conscious of the importance of beyond-the-book approach for their children. "While I want my child to do well in studies, I also want her to get an equal exposure in sports, theatre and arts. ," said Aparna Chaudhary, parent of a class 11 student.

Other schools too are jumping into the fray. For instance, 20 students from the Jubilee Hills Public School participated in an exchange program with students of North Carolina University, whereby they discussed the packaging industry in their respective countries. "The packaging industry has various applications in all other industries . With the help of video chats and skype calls, both batches of students explained the status of packaging industries in their countries and shared ideas and suggestions," said Vara Laxmi, principal of the school.

A batch of 10 students from the Chirec Public School, spent two weeks at the Theyer Academy in Massachusetts to experience the American style of living. "The students stayed with host families there. It is important for students to know that the world is wide open for them and there is no dearth of opportunities to explore," said principal Iffat Ibrahim.

Arunachal Lonely Planet's global tourism hotspot

Itanagar, May 29 (ANI): After winning the coveted second runners up position in Lonely Planet magazine's Emerging Destinations In India recently, Arunachal Pradesh, nature's favourite play spot on earth, has made its foray into the world tourism scenario and earned the rare distinction of making it to the BBC's Lonely Planet Traveller magazine's 'Top 21 under-the-radar destinations of the world'.

The list which exclusively featured the less explored and unconventional tourist destinations of the world was released recently, is being compiled by Rory Goulding, editorial assistant at Lonely Planet Traveller magazine.

It is to be noted that Kiso Valley in Japan and Southeastern Anatolia in Turkey are the only two other tourist spots from Asia that has been featured in the list, Arunachal Pradesh Tourism Parliamentary Secretary PD Sona told ANI.

Sona quoted Goulding, as saying, "Arunachal Pradesh, the 'land of the dawn-lit mountains', is surely high on any list of candidates for the mythical realm of Shangri-La. It has historically been inaccessible from any, an unknown place so remote that few of its thunderous Himalayan peaks have been named, let alone climbed."

"Now, however, easing travel restrictions and improved infrastructure ensure that this extraordinary place is ripe for exploring. Here, nature reserves teem with a diversity of wildlife unmatched in India, forests host delicately tattooed tribal peoples, and mountain valleys are dotted with majestic Buddhist monasteries, such as 400-year-old Tawang Gompa, one of the world's largest."

Goulding also urged the travellers to visit the Mechuka Valley, a hitherto unexplored Buddhist realm amongst the towering, snow-draped mountains of the region's remote west.

The other destinations that had find a place in the list were Fermanagh Lakelands in Northern Ireland, Yukon in Canada, Inchcolm Island in Firth of Forth, Scotland, Sequoia and King's Canyon National Park in California, Providence in Rhode Island, USA, Northwestern Tasmania in Australia, Kosrae in Micronesia,Avila in Spain, Sylt in Germany, Meknes in Morocco, Byblos in Lebanon, Torun in Poland, Jambiani Beach in Tanzania, Arras in France, Richmond in North Yorkshire, England, Ikaria in Greece, Trieste in Italy and Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe.

With Arunachal Pradesh chosen by the union tourism ministry to host the country's second edition of International Travel Mart (ITM) at Tawang during in the third week of October next, this mystic land would get more exposed to the rest of world with foreign tour operators, government officials and hoteliers from 50 countries are expected to attend the event, said state's tourism secretary Sonam Chombey Wednesday. By Pradeep Kumar (ANI)

Rains, cloudy weather bring relief to Andhra Pradesh

Hyderabad: Rainfall in parts of Andhra Pradesh provided much-needed relief to people from the intense heat that has kept the southern plateau sizzling for weeks and claimed over 500 lives across the country.

Several parts of Srikakulam district in north coastal Andhra Pradesh and some parts of East Godavari, West Godavari, Guntur and other districts of south coastal Andhra received rains on Tuesday.

The sky remained cloudy in most parts of Telangana and Rayalaseema regions, officials said.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), a low pressure area has formed over north Bay of Bengal. It may concentrate into a depression during the next 48 hours.

Under the impact of low pressure, rains or thundershowers are likely in a few places in the state during the next 24 hours.

Visakhapatnam Cyclone Warning Centre has forecast strong winds along the coast with speeds reaching up to 45-50 km per hour. It has advised fishermen to be on alert while venturing into sea.

The weather turned cloudy and pleasant at several places across the state, providing relief to people from the heat wave, which has gripped the state for last few days. The maximum temperature in most of the places came down to below 40 degree Celsius.

For the second consecutive day, the weather was pleasant and cloudy in Hyderabad. As the heat wave abated, there were more people on the roads and the number of visitors to parks and historic places also increased.

According to the Department of Disaster Management, 524 people have died of sunstroke since April 1 across the country. However, unofficial sources have put the toll at over 600 during the last four days.

Son tops CBSE exam as father takes on Naxals in Chhattisgarh`

Raipur: As his father takes on the Naxals in Chhattisgarh, Sopan Khosla has scored his own victory in Raipur.

Son of a senior paramilitary official undertaking anti-Naxal operations in the state, Sopan has topped the CBSE class 12th exams in the science stream with 99 per cent marks.

Sopan, whose father is an Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) Commandant Sandeep Khosla, has secured hundred per cent marks in four subjects namely Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Computer Science in the central board results this year. He scored 95 per cent in English. In total, Sopan secured 495 out of total 500 marks.

Sopan's father is leading a battalion of 1,000 men undertaking anti-Naxal operations in the Rajnandgaon district of the state and he rarely gets to meet him. Sandeep Khosla commands the 29th battalion of the paramilitary that is based in this district.

"I was not expecting this result. I expected 97 or so but this result has really excited me," Sopan said. He, however, misses the presence of his father.

"I get to meet him only once in three-four months when he comes home. Throughout his career, he has been posted in difficult areas like Jammu and Kashmir and those affected by Naxal violence. He was very excited when I told him about the result. I miss my father's presence and guidance at times," he said.

Sopan is a student of Delhi Public School (DPS) in Jabalpur, a city in neighbouring Madhya Pradesh.

Japan and India to carry out high-speed rail study

Tokyo: Japan and India agreed on Wednesday to carry out a joint feasibility study on India's first high-speed railway, a move which could make Japanese bullet train technology the favourite for any contract.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh said the two countries would split the cost of the study into a link between Mumbai and Ahmedabad.

"Prime Minister Singh noted Japan's interest in supporting the introduction of high-speed railway system in India," said a joint statement after a summit.

"Prime Minister Singh appreciated Japan's high level of expertise in designing and implementing High-Speed Railway (Shinkansen) systems.

"The two Prime Ministers decided that the two sides will co-finance a joint feasibility study of High-Speed Railway system on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad route."

An earlier report in the Nikkei business daily said Abe would offer a sweetener in the form of 101.7 billion yen ($1.0 billion) in yen-based loans to India, as Tokyo fights off competition from nations such as France and its TGV high-speed rail network.

That cash came in the form of a 71 billion yen loan for the construction of the Mumbai Metro, and almost 31 billion yen for two other projects.

The Nikkei said the agreement on a joint study indicated that Japanese technology was likely to get the nod for any future Indian purchase of a high-speed system.

Japan under Abe is embarking on a renewed drive to sell roads, rail and power stations to emerging nations including India, in a bid to offset lassitude in the domestic economy.

Earlier this month Abe pledged he would travel the world on behalf of Japan Inc. and said he wanted to treble sales of Japan's well-respected infrastructure projects to 30 trillion yen a year.

The Mumbai-Ahmedabad rail line would stretch 500 kilometres (312 miles) and cost up to one trillion yen, the Nikkei said, adding the two governments plan to finish technological reviews and costings by March 2014.

The joint statement welcomed the completion of a preliminary study on a masterplan for infrastructure in southern India, and said the two sides would now work on fleshing out plans.

Japanese media said their country could help build a power grid, roads, railways and ports.

The quickening pace of commercial co-operation comes with the two countries -- both democracies -- eyeing the rise of China with increasing unease, as Beijing presses territorial claims with growing insistence.

Mr Singh on Wednesday called for the strengthening of security ties, describing the two nations as "natural and indispensable partners".

"We should intensify our political dialogue and expand our strategic consultations on... issues of mutual interest," he said in a speech earlier on his four-day trip, adding that defence and security dialogue, military exercises and defence technology collaboration should also increase.

The prime ministers agreed to establish a working group to examine an Indian purchase of amphibious planes, in what would be the first sale of hardware used by the Japanese military since a weapons export ban was imposed in the 1960s.

Air Force setting up unit in Nagpur; will give chopper support for anti-Naxal ops in Chhattisgarh

New Delhi:The anti-Naxal operations in Maoist hotbed of Jagdalpur in Chhattisgarh are set to get a boost with Indian Air Force (IAF) deciding to provide helicopter support from Nagpur where a new unit is being set up.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a DRDO function, IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne said there was need to deploy some new systems in the Maoist-hit areas which would provide better surveillance capabilities to the forces there.

The IAF has at present deployed six Mi-17 choppers from a unit based in Gorakhpur and they operate from three locations including Ranchi in Jharkhand and Raipur and Jagdalpur in Chhattisgarh to support the operations.

"We are going to raise a unit of our latest MI-17V5 choppers in Nagpur by next month which will provide full support to anti-Naxal operations in Jagdalpur by the forces on ground," Mr Browne said.

He said the base of the new unit would be closer to Jagdalpur and will have lesser response time in case of some incident there. The Nagpur unit will deploy two to three of its Mi-17V5 choppers in Jagdalpur which would be capable of carrying out both day and night operations.

Mr Browne said the decision to deploy these choppers in Nagpur was not in response to the recent incident in which Congress leaders were killed. It was planned much before the incident which left 24 people dead and 32 others injured.

Meanwhile, Defence Minister AK Antony once again said armed forces would not be deployed in anti-Naxal operations in direct role.

Asked if the defence ministry would provide help para-military personnel in terms of training, the Defence Minister said, "Regarding training of paramilitary forces, whatever support is required, will be extended."

IAF uses its choppers in the anti-Naxal operations for carrying out casualty evacuation and transportation of police and central forces in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand and deployed five choppers in the recent attack on Congress leaders also for evacuation.

Commenting on the induction of the heavy strategic lift aircraft C-17, the IAF Chief said three aircraft would be inducted at the Hindan air base near Delhi in June second week.

Mr Browne said IAF is in the contract negotiation stage for procurement of five major systems including the 126 Medium Multilrole Combat Aircraft tender.

He said talks were in final stages for procuring 22 Apache choppers, 15 Chinook heavylift choppers and additional six C-130J Super Hercules special operations aircraft from the US and six mid-air refuelling aircraft from Airbus Military of Europe this year.

The IAF chief expressed hope that the deal for 126 Rafale combat aircraft would be inked before end of this year and all issues over the contractual obligations were over.

Birth of Rhino calf brings joy in Kanpur zoo

KANPUR: The Kanpur Zoo staff celebrated birth of rhino offspring on Tuesday. The veterinary doctors described the infant as underweight but said that it was doing fine and drinking milk. The mother, Manu, too was fine. The calf was active and was seen walking in the enclosure.

zoo veterinarian Dr RK Singh said that the calf born to Manu and Rohit was fit. He said that the calf weighed around 30 kgs and would add more weight in days to come. Stating that the calf was born after 16-months of pregnancy, he said that it was doing fine as was its mother. He further said that the newborn and its mother have been separated from Rohit.

Stating that the calf was born around 4.40am on Tuesday, Dr Singh said that Manu was quite restless through out Monday evening.

He added that proper care of mother Rhino was being taken so that it can take care of its calf. "We are giving multi-vitamins and necessary medicines to Manu-the mother Rhino - so that its post delivery complications end soon", said the zoo veterinarian further.

When questioned about the survival rate of the calves of Rhinos, the zoo veterinarian said that the survival rate was high but to prevent infections it would be kept away from public glare for at least three months.

This means there is still a couple of month's time left for the visitors to see the baby Rhino.

The birth of the baby Rhino has left the zoo staff brimming with enthusiasm. Everybody wanted to see the young one but nobody was allowed to go close to the Rhino enclosure.

As soon as the visitors to the zoo came to know about the development they became eager to see the baby Rhino but none was allowed to go there.