Snake in your backyard? Dial a toll-free helpline

VADODARA: Spotted a reptile or crocodile in your area? Now you won't have to go looking for numbers of forest officials or animal activists. The forest department is all set to launch a helpline number for catering to animal rescue calls in the city. The toll-free number will be launched by next week and it will cater to calls for rescuing animals or reptiles that are spotted in residential and commercial areas during monsoons.

A special team has also been formed to cater to the calls that are expected to increase in next few days. "We have decided to launch an exclusive toll-free helpline number as we get lot of calls during monsoons. Reptiles, especially snakes of different species, wander into residential areas and are found all over in the city," said G A Brahmbhatt, assistant conservator of forests (ACF).

He said that the forest department has a regular team that attends to rescue calls but now some officials will be on job round the clock. Three officials staying in different areas have been putting in charge of the calls they get from their areas. Instead of traveling all the way from their office in Kamatibaug, these employees will directly attend to the calls in their respective areas. "It will help us in attending to the calls swiftly," Brahmbhatt told TOI.

The forest department has been getting about 20 to 30 calls daily from different areas of the city over last few days. The forest officials and animal activists have rescued hundreds of snakes and some crocodiles in last few days. The department is also planning to make a zone-wise map of areas where reptiles are found in more numbers during monsoons. In last few days, most reptiles have been spotted in Gotri, Vasna Road and Atladara areas.

Most of the snakes spotted in residential areas or gardens are non-poisonous and they come out in open as water enters their boroughs during monsoons. On Wednesday, animal activist Vishal Thakur rescued a crocodile in Harni area.

BJP MPs to donate a month's salary to flood-hit Uttarakhand

Raipur: BJP's MPs, MLAs and other elected representatives in Chhattisgarh have decided to contribute one month's salary to help flood-ravaged Uttarakhand.

"BJP MPs, MLAs, mayors, corporators and other elected representatives will contribute one month's salary to Uttarakhand government to help relief efforts in the flood-hit region," BJP spokesperson Shivratan Sharma said here on Thursday.

A decision to this effect was taken during a meeting of BJP leaders in the presence of Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh and the party's national joint general secretary Saudan Singh this evening.

Teams from the state are already monitoring relief measures and rescue operations in Uttarakhand, he said.

Raman Singh has already announced an aid of Rs 5 crore from the CM's relief fund to Uttarakhand government for the relief and rehabilitation of victims.

According to an official release, over 700 people from Chhattisgarh are safe and at various places in Uttarakhand.

Although the state government is not in a position to know the exact number of pilgrims stranded in Uttarakhand, official sources said over a hundred pilgrims from Chhattisgarh are still missing.


The state government has sent Uma Devi, Resident Commissioner of New Delhi-based Chhattisgarh Bhavan, and Disaster Management Secretary K R Pisda to Uttarakhand to help stranded pilgrims from Chhattisgarh.

Four teams from Chhattisgarh have also been sent to Uttarakhand to evacuate pilgrims from Chhattisgarh.

PTI 

Centre gives in-principle nod to Shivaji statue in Arabian sea

Mumbai: Nine years after Congress-led government in Maharashtra made an election-time promise of constructing a 312-feet statue of warrior king Shivaji off Mumbai shore, the Centre on Thursday gave in-principle approval.

Addressing a press conference here, Union Environment Minister Jayanthi Natrajan said the finalised site in the Arabian sea, a 18-hectare rock, was a safe place.

"Even during high tide, the rock stands 3 to 4 meters above sea-level," she said.

The project, which will come up in Coastal Regulation Zone-4 (where no construction is allowed), was approved in principle as a special case, the Union Minister said.

"We have studied the case thoroughly and are satisfied. No commercial activity is being allowed," she said.

Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said as many as 40 clearances of different kinds would be required. "We will now submit a detailed project report (to Centre)," he said.

PTI 

'It's about love, not money': Retired postman builds mini Taj Mahal in Bulandshahr as a monument to his late wife

When Mughal emperor Shah Jahan lost his beloved wife Mumtaz in 1631, he built the Taj Mahal, the white marble mausoleum regarded by many as the world's greatest monument to love.

So when 77-year-old retired postmaster Faizul Hasan Kadari's wife died in December 2011, he knew exactly what he had to do: build his own Taj Mahal for the wife he loved no less than the great Mughal loved his.
Now, 16 months later, his "mini-Taj" is taking shape on a 5000 sqare feet plot in Bulandshahr, near Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, and the grieving farmer is on his way to becoming a local celebrity.
Faizul Hasan Kadari with a photo of his wife Begum Tajmulli
While the Taj Mahal stands at 561 feet and is flanked by four 130 feet minarets, Faizul Hasan Kadari's mausoleum and memorial to his love, Begum Tajmulli, is a rough replica the height of a large unfinished house, waiting for its white marble cladding and Koranic calligraphy inscriptions.
So far he has spent around £25,000 on the Bulandshahr Taj, but plans to spend more yet. "There would be everything which the Taj Mahal has. When completed, it will cover about two acres of land, which may also have a garden similar to the garden of Taj Mahal. I have spent about Rs 20 lakhs [£25,000] so far," he explained.
He had once regarded Shah Jahan's monument to his wife's memory was wasteful and extravagant until his own wife died. "I used to think that Shah Jahan insulted the common man by building a magnificent monument to love. But after the death of my wife in December 2011, I realised that it had more about the intensity of love than the money," he told the Mail Today.
"Since we were issueless and I had no other liabilities, I started construction of my own Taj Mahal on a piece of land which was not useful for agricultural purposes," he added.
Now his wife is buried inside and he hopes they will be reunited when he finally passes away. "I have written in my will that my graveyard should be besides her," he said.

Source : Telegraph.co.uk

Madras HC clarifies order on sex between man and women

Chennai: The Madras High Court on Wednesday took strong objection to criticism of its verdict holding sexual relations between a woman and man of marriageable age, prior to tying the knot, as "a valid wedding" and stoutly defended the order saying it "protected Indian culture and welfare of women."

Two days after he delivered the judgement, which has evoked disapproval and criticisms from various quarters, including on social media, Justice C S Karnan said c

omments should not be made without fully understanding the verdict.

In a clarification order, which would be part of the judgement, the judge said "this court's order does not in any way run against any religion and is not intended to wound any Indian. The order had not in any way degraded the system of marriage performed as per the various religious and customs and rites among the various communities."

Justice Karnan further said "..This court has given the legal relief to the affected woman. Without fully understanding the court's judgment, adverse comments shall not be passed."

"If a bachelor aged 21 years or above and a spinster aged 18 years or above had premarital sex with the intention to marry and subsequent to this the man deserts the woman, the victim woman can approach a civil forum for remedy after producing necessary substantial evidence to grant her social status as wife. This remedy is not only for the purpose of giving relief to the victim woman but also to maintain the cultural integrity of India," he reiterated.

Justice Karnan had given the judgement on June 18 while modifying an April 2006 judgement of a family court in a maintenance case.

A family court in Coimbatore had ordered a man to pay Rs 500 maintenance per month to his two children and Rs 1000 as litigation expenses and had held that the woman's wedding with him did not have any documentary proof.

PTI 

2 supercomputers from Pune in world's fastest 100

PUNE: Two of the four supercomputers in the country that feature in the top 100 in the list of 500 fastest supercomputers in the world, are from Pune. While the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) supercomputer stands 36th in the list, ParamYuva II, developed by the Centre for Development of Advanced computing (C-DAC) has bagged the 69th position.

The IITM supercomputer is yet to be installed while the Param Yuva II became operational from February 8 this year.

The list of top 500 supercomputers in the world was announced on Tuesday during the launch of the opening session of the International Supercomputing Conference in Leipzig, Germany.

Rajat Moona, director general, C-DAC said, "This is a major step for the country (for two of its supercomputers) to figure in the top 100 fastest supercomputers in the world. Over the years, India was losing its position in the supercomputer area in the world. In 2008, India had 10 machines in the top 500, but after that there was a bit of a downfall. In contrast, in 2004, China was nowhere on the scene but in the latest list, its supercomputer has taken the top ranking."

Moona said that India has taken a major step in the latest rankings and has more potential to move up as there is a huge demand for supercomputing in the country. He said that the union government is also looking at making an investment of Rs 5,000 crore in this area over the next five years.

Moona said, "There is a so much of high-end work being done in the area of weather forecasting, fluid dynamics, air borne bodies, ship movement, disaster management, design of earthquake prone structures that need massive supercomputing infrastructure. As a result of this need, the supercomputing infrastructure is also improving and has led to an improvement in world rankings for the country."

The Param Yuva II has a capacity of 524 teraflops and within three weeks of launching it was already running with a load of 70% of its capacity. Precise weather forecasting, faster tapping of natural resources in the sea and designing of customised drugs for individuals are some of the applications possible using Param Yuva II. It also promises to be energy efficient with 35% reduction in energy consumption as compared to other supercomputers.

The IITM supercomputer will start functioning in the next two to three months, Suryachandra Rao, chief programme scientist, department of high performance computing, IITM said. Rao said, "The supercomputer, once installed, will boost research in weather and climate forecasting as well as air pollution." Rao said that the process of installing the supercomputer was in progress and within one week of installation, it will be running. All the institutes under the union ministry of earth sciences will be using the IITM supercomputer facility.

Pride of place

Four supercomputers from India make it to fastest 100, of which two are from Pune

Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) supercomputer stands 36th

Param Yuva II of Centre for Development of Advanced computing (C-DAC), gets 69th position

In 2008, India had 10 machines in the top 500, but had lost its position over the years

China, which was nowhere until 2004, got the top ranking this year

Mobile clinic for kidney ailments

KOZHIKODE: The mobile clinic launched under the Snehasparsham project of the Kidney Welfare Society of the district panchayat will tour all the schools in the district to detect kidney ailments.

The society decided to conduct school-level check-up considering the growing instances of renal diseases among students.

The society will provide Rs 50,000 per month to conduct check-up at the schools.

In the initial phase, the mobile van will tour all the higher secondary and high schools in its limit.

The project will cover the upper primary and lower primary schools in the second phase.

The doctors from Iqra hospital will conduct check-up among students to detect kidney ailments. The society will bring the students under the Snehasparsham project who are in need of monthly dialysis.

Those who have been detecting with symptoms of renal diseases will be asked to begin early treatment. The mobile van worth Rs 65 lakh was donated by one of the sponsors in the district.

District panchayat president and chairperson of the Kidney Welfare Society K Jameela said, "The growing number of kidney ailments among students forced us to think of conducting a camp for the early detection of renal diseases among them. Experts will check the blood pressure, ECG and renal disease in the schools. A total of 22 children belonging to the age of 12 to 20 years have been receiving benefits of the Snehasparsham Project. We hope to eliminate renal diseases in a phased manner from the district,'' said the chairperson.

Snehasparsham Project launched in the district aims at providing financial aid to beneficiaries to conduct dialysis.

At present, the society has been helping 635 patients to carry out dialysis.

The society is providing Rs 2,500 in cash and Rs 600 worth dialyser to each of the beneficiaries every month.

K Jameela said that the society will set up a dialysis centre at Kuttiyadi soon.

"The new centre will cater to the requirements of patients from Wayanad, Nadappuram, Kunnummal and Perambra. People have been approaching the dialysis centre set up at the Kozhikode Medical College Hospital to carry out free dialysis,'' said the chairperson.