New Delhi. A delegation led by American Senator Christopher Bond called on the Minister of State for Coal and Statistics & Programme Implementation, Shri Sriprakash Jaiswal here today.

Issues relating to energy security were discussed in the meeting. It was pointed out during the discussions that the demand for coal in India is growing at a faster pace due to acceleration in the rate of addition to power generation and, therefore, the Ministry of Coal and Coal India Ltd. were looking for acquisitions of coal assets abroad to supplement coal availability. It was further mentioned that Coal India Ltd. had issued a global Expression of Interest for strategic partnerships through formation of joint ventures for opening Greenfield projects and equity infusion with relatively long-term off-take agreements.

Both the Minister and the Senator expressed the need for strengthening cooperation in the areas of clean coal technologies as well as underground coal gasification. It was also mentioned that a global study bringing out the benefits of coal in various countries of the world has been initiated by American coal companies and that the Indian Coal companies would be supporting this study. The Minister concluded by stating that the Indian side fully supports these initiatives.

New Delhi. The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, has condoled the loss of lives in the bomb blasts in Moscow and has expressed India’s solidarity with Russia in combating violence and terrorism. In a letter to President Medvedev, the Prime Minister said the blasts were a most tragic and horrific act of violence.

He said-“It is with great anguish that I have learnt of the bomb blasts in Moscow, which have led to the loss of so many innocent lives. This is a most tragic and horrific act of violence. At this difficult hour our thoughts are with you, the people of Russia and the families and friends of the victims of this terrible tragedy. On behalf of the Government and people of India, I convey our deepest condolences. I wish to assure you that India stands united with Russia in combating the forces of violence and terrorism.”

New Delhi. Trans fats are bad for the heart said Dr K K Aggarwal, President, Heart Care Foundation of India. Though small amounts of Trans fat occur naturally, most trans fat is artificially produced when vegetable oil is partially hydrogenated. Partial hydrogenation results in fats that are easier to cook with and spoil less easily than naturally occurring oils. They make the food tastier and increases its shelf life.

Trans fat promotes heart disease by elevating LDL, or “bad” cholesterol, in blood. They go further by lowering one’s HDL—the good cholesterol that actually helps prevent heart disease.

Consumption of saturated fats raises the LDL cholesterol concentration, but does not lower HDL. Thus, while saturated fats adversely affect the lipid profile, they may not be as harmful as trans fatty acids.

Trans fatty acids may also interfere with the desaturation and elongation of n-3 (omega-3) fatty acids. These are important for the prevention of heart disease and complications of pregnancy.

In an analysis from the Nurses' Health Study, for each increase of 2 percent of energy from trans fat, the relative risk for incident coronary heart disease was 1.93. There are no known physiologic benefits related to the consumption of trans fatty acids; thus, reduction in their intake makes sense.

Trans fatty acids are a major component of many commercial baked goods, such as cookies and cakes, and most deep-fried foods. As per American Heart Association one should consume no more than 2 grams of trans fat per day, which is about as much as someone would get from naturally occurring trans fat.

The US regulation allows trans fat levels of less than 0.5 grams per serving to be labeled as 0 grams per serving. The best diet is characterized by low amounts of both saturated and trans fatty acids.

New Delhi. India and Finland have signed an Agreement on Economic Cooperation at Helsinki on 26th March, 2010. The Agreement was signed By Mr Anand Sharma, Union Minister for Commerce and Industry from the Indian side and by Dr Paavo Vayrnen, the Minister for Foreign Trade and Development from the Finnish side. Speaking on the occasion, Shri Sharma said that the new Agreement will raise the level of Economic and Trade Cooperation between the two countries to a new and higher level. The Agreement seeks to replace an earlier Agreement which was signed way back in 1967 under the GATT regime. He said that the world has moved far ahead now and both the countries offer vast areas of opportunity which can be suitably tapped keeping in view the complimentarity of our sectors. The highly organized high-end technology sectors of Finland can develop synergy with the highly skilled and educated work force of India.

The Agreement seeks to deepen the engagement between the two countries through exchanges of investors, information and experts and also by developing opportunities for the two countries by exploring joint economic possibilities in third countries. A Joint Commission consisting of experts will be set up under this Agreement to identify new business possibilities and also to identify and remove hurdles which could hamper mutual economic cooperation between the two countries. The two sides also decided to set up three Joint Working Groups in the areas of Innovation, Clean Technology and waste management and skill Development and Training.

The Indian Commerce and Industry Minister has been accompanied by a high level business delegation under the leadership of shri Rajan Bharti Mittal, President of FICCI and included some of the leading industrialists of India. Earlier the two Ministers also chaired a business roundtable on 25th March 2010. Business leaders present from both sides exuded keenness to collaborate in high technology sectors. Shri Sharma observed that areas of infrastructure, clean energy, bio-pharmaceuticals, medical electronics, health and skill development offer enormous potential and stated that the Indian MSME sector and Finnish small industries should use each other’s strengths to make India a manufacturing hub for tech-rich industries and invited the Finnish industry to Invest in Institutes of Excellence and skill imparting centres in India. This was an area that India would be keen to commence work on immediately, he said. During the two day visit shri Sharma also held bilateral talks with Finnish Minister of Economic Affairs and employment Mr. Mauri Pekkarinen, and Dr Paavo Vayrynen, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development on areas of strategic and economic importance for the two countries.

New Delhi. Consuming more than six eggs a week seems to raise the risk of dying from all causes and diabetics seem to face an even higher mortality risk, said Dr K K Aggarwal, President, Heart Care Foundation of India..

Diabetics might somehow convert dietary cholesterol more readily into blood cholesterol than people without diabetes. As per a Harvard study published in the The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition by Dr. Luc Djousse the more eggs diabetic men consumed, the more they increased their risk for death.

They studied more than 21,000 men ranging 40-86 years for twenty years who had participated in a Physician's Health Study. Consumption of up to six eggs a week wasn't found to be associated with a higher risk of death from all causes. But eating seven or more eggs a week among healthy study participants was linked to a 23 percent higher risk of death.

The mortality risk was much higher among doctors with diabetes. Consuming seven or more eggs a week doubled their risk of death from all causes, compared with diabetic doctors who ate just one egg each week.

A single egg contains about 200 milligrams of cholesterol. Daily limit advocated is 100 mg. American Heart Association and the American Dietetic Association say watch your egg consumption, and try not to consume more than two yolks per week.

Eating 7 or more eggs/wk leads to 23% higher risk of death. Amongst diabetics it doubles the risk of death from all causes.

New Delhi. Pregnant women should wear seat belts, not only to save themselves in the event of a car accident but also to save their unborn baby.

Quoting a Texas study from American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Dr KK Aggarwal, President, Heart Care Foundation of India said that over half of all fetal losses in motor–vehicle crashes –– could be saved if pregnant women buckled up properly.

Even if a fetus survives, premature delivery as a result of the crash can lead to low birth weight, respiratory problems and long–term physical or neurological problems. As per the researchers at the University of Michigan the survival of the fetus was most strongly associated with the severity of the crash and how badly the mother is injured. Fetuses are 4.5 times more likely to survive if the mother is wearing the proper seat belt.

Regular use of seat belts by pregnant women will prevent 84 percent of fetal injuries and deaths as a result of car accidents. Women in car crashes where the fetus is injured or dies are unbelted 62 percent of the time. 9 percent of pregnant women who properly wore a three–point belt, with or without air bag deployment, had ‘acceptable’ fetal outcomes in less severe crashes.

Air bags do not seem to adversely affect fetal outcomes.

For pregnant women, the lap–belt portion needs to be worn low over the pelvis so if there is a crash, basically, the bony pelvis is what the seat belt is restraining rather than (having the force) transmitted to the uterus or the abdomen. The shoulder belt should simply come up from the side, go between the woman's breasts, and over the shoulder

New Delhi. Shri Anand Sharma, Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, in his meeting with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belgium, Mr. Steven Vanackere, here on Tuesday, said that higher investments are required in the industrial sector in order to generate more employment and livelihoods so that the poor can be part of India’s growth process. He emphasized that it is important that the investment relationship between India and Belgium enters diversified sectors. “We need to do more in different sectors like transport equipment, machine fabrication and high technology sectors in which Belgium has strength. India is slated to invest around 1.5 trillion US dollars in the coming 5 to 6 years in the infrastructure sector and we expect Belgium businesses to participate in this effort”, Shri Sharma added.

Shri Sharma highlighted agro processing as very important sector for India and said that after infrastructure, this is the sector with significant multiplier effects as 60% of India’s population depends on agriculture. He said that while India is the world’s no.1 producer of milk and the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables, the processing infrastructure is not adequate to cope with this level of production. “Post harvest losses are as high as 30% to 40%. Belgian companies having expertise in this area should look at investing in post harvest infrastructure for agro processing”, Shri Sharma said.

During the interaction, the visiting Minister informed that this was perhaps the most successful business interaction between Indian and Belgium businesses. In the infrastructure area, he highlighted ports as an area in which Belgian companies are interested.

New Delhi. The Government has chalked out a multi-prong strategy to maximize rice production in the country during the forthcoming Kharif season. Decision to this effect was taken at the recently held Kharif Conference in New Delhi. The main planks of the strategy are expansion of areas under rice, enhancing the yield through adoption of short duration /location specific varieties /hybrids and increasing irrigation coverage in the eastern region. The strategies recommended for increasing the productivity of rice in different States are as under:

New Delhi. Thursday. More than half of normal-weight persons may have a high percentage of body fat making them susceptible to heart disease, diabetes and other metabolic disorders.

Men whose body fat is greater than 20 percent and women whose body fat is greater than 30 percent are suffering from "normal weight obesity, even though their weight may be normal for their size, said Dr K K Aggarwal, President Heart Care Foundation of India.

The prevalence of people with a high amount of body fat despite a normal weight is relatively high. Many of these people have metabolic abnormalities. Even normal-weight people should be advised to exercise and eat a healthy diet to reduce their level of fat, especially belly fat. A study by DR Lopez-Jimenez and presented at the American College of Cardiology's annual meeting, in Chicago, out of 2,127 people who participated in the U.S. government's Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 61 percent of the participants had levels of body fat that indicated "normal weight obesity.

It was associated with high cholesterol; high levels of leptin, a hormone found in fat and other tissues that's involved in appetite regulation; and high rates of metabolic syndrome. Even a small amount of extra fat increase the risk for diabetes and heart disease. Excess body fat in the belly is a menace, whatever your weight.

New Delhi. The procession of Shri Ram Navami was arranged with great zeal under the guidance of Indraprastha Vishva Hindu Parishad by Hindu Parva Samanvaya Samitee and other religious, cultural, social & educational institutions of Delhi. More then 201 Jhankis & Bhajan Mandalis were decorated by devotees. Jhanki of Bhagwan Shri Ram showing crushing the demons was worth seen. Office bearers of the different institutions were seen with saffron turban (Bhagva shafa) in an open jeep preceeded by the Shri Hanuman Dhwaja (flag) and followed by well decorated 21 horses and 51 odd bikes with band parties playing Sri Ram Dhun, singing and dancing.

Delhi Mayor Shri Kanvar Sen, International Vice President – VHP shri Om Prakash Singhal, chairman of the Hindu Parwa Samanwaya Samitee Swami Raghwanand ji & chairman Sanatan Dharm Pratinidhi Sabha shri Manohar Lal Kumar ignited Lamps to inaugurate the procession. Speaking on the occasion, Shri Kanvar Sen said that Bharat is a spiritual country. The hole life of lord shri Ram devoted to mankind. It is very unfortunate that the construction Ram Temple in Ayodhya is being questioned in the land where everybody worships lord Ram. The teachings of Ramayana are not for any particular cast, creed or religion but for the humanity of the universe. He declared with confidence that the Ram Mandir will soon be constructed in Ayodhya, the pious birth land of shri Ram, destroying all barriers.

The President of Indraprastha Vishwa Hindu Parishad Shri Swadesh Pal Gupta, General secretary shri Satyendra Mohan, Media coordinator Vinod Bansal, General secretary of Hindu Parva Smanvay samitee shri Rajendra Prashad chairman of the Sanatan Dharma Pratinidhi Sabha shri Manohar Lal Kumar, the president of Dharmayatra Maha Sangh shri Mange Ram Garg, general secretary of Delhi unit of Sant Mahamandal Mahant shri Naval Kishore das Ji Maharaj, Kalika peethadheeshwar Mahant shri Surendra Nath Avdhoot, shri Ramkishan Das Mahatyagi of Hanuman Vatika & Co convenor of Delhi unit of Bajrang Dal shri Sailendra Jaiswal long with number of Saints, sages and representatives of various organisations have threw light on the incarnation of Bhagwan Shri Ram.

Yatra was started at 2.30 p.m. from Ram Leela Maidan and ended at Gangeshwar Dham Karol Bag. Thousands of People gathered at various places such as Asfali Road, Dariya ganj, town hall, M.M. Road etc to welcome the Yatra.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations on the state and behaviour of the Earth’s atmosphere, its interaction with the oceans, the climate it produces and the resulting distribution of water resources. It came into existence on 23rd March 1950 and at present has a membership of 189 Member States and Territories. Under WMO leadership and within the framework of WMO programmes, National Meteorological and Hydrological Services contribute substantially to the protection of life and property against natural disasters, to safeguard the environment and to enhance the economic and social well-being of all sectors of society in areas such as food security, water resources and transport.

Over the years WMO has contributed a lot towards human security and well-being. The period of sixty years can be divided on the basis of its achievements-

In these years detailed specifications for national and regional climate atlases were drawn up along with the publication of technical regulations and the development of guides to achieve uniformity of meteorological practices. The International Geophysical Year (1957–1958) was a major landmark for international research collaboration on 11 disciplines in the earth sciences. WMO supported the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services of growing number of new Members through an active technical assistance programme. Expansion of weather-sensitive activities and the continuous need for improved accuracy of forecasts had prompted an increase in observations at surface and upper levels of the atmosphere during this period. The advent of radio-teletypewriter, facsimile and other radio transmission stations facilitated the availability of real-time data and the preparation and dissemination of weather maps.

The World Weather Watch Programme was established with the components of Global Observing System (GOS), Global Data-processing and Forecasting System and Global Telecommunication System, due to the advances in remote-sensing, satellites, communications and computers.

By the end of 1972, there were about 8500 surface stations, 5500 merchant and ocean weather ships, and commercial aircraft and meteorological satellites all working together within the framework of the WMO system. The initiation of a global weather experiment known as the Global Atmospheric Research Programme (GARP) was a significant development. This programme implemented over the next decade led to considerable advances in weather forecasting and climate prediction. During this period, a number of newly independent States joined WMO. WMO established its own Voluntary Assistance Programme, in order to complement resources from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and provide effective and timely support.

· The catastrophic Sahelian drought of the late 1960s and early 1970s led WMO to establishment of AGRHYMET Centre in Niamey, Niger, for capacity-building and applying agro meteorology and hydrology to the mitigation of drought and desertification, with a view to promoting food security.

· The loss of more than 400, 000 lives in Bangladesh in 1970 led WMO to reinforce its Typhoon Committee, which was formed in 1968.

· In 1971, WMO established the Tropical Cyclone Project, which was later upgraded to the level of a programme.

· WMO contributed extensively to United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in 1972 which resulted in the creation of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

· In 1977, WMO participated actively in the United Nations Conference on Desertification and developed an Action Plan on drought and desertification, which provided valuable guidance to other countries.

· The adoption of convention and protocols on the protection of the ozone layer took place in 1985 and1987 respectively.

· The First GARP Global Experiment, or FGGE, was carried out from 1978 to 1979 which contributed to defining the global atmospheric circulation and to developing more realistic mathematical models for medium and extended-range weather forecasts and for climate projections.

· Other regional experiments MONEX for the Asian monsoon and ALPEX for the Alpine region were carried out.

· Weather modification experiment was carried out in Spain which gave rise to improved understanding of processes involved.

Several of the initiatives of the previous year’s came to fruition in this decade, with numerous actions on the climate and ozone fronts, impacts and applications. The 1985 Villach Conference assessment of the role of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in climate variations provided the first universally accepted statement on the most likely magnitude of global warming and its consequences.

WMO action led to the establishment of the 1985 Vienna Convention on the Protection of the Ozone Layer and the 1987 Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer. As a result, science-based policy was formed for phasing out of ozone-depleting substances, with a return to normality projected over the coming 50-year period.

The recurrence of extreme weather events, such as the 1982–1983 El Niño-related disasters, and concern about the continued degradation of the environment gave rise to three major developments during the decade:

· International Conference on Water and Environment, 1992

· United Nations Conference on Environment and Development ,1992 and

· United Nations International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction 1990–1999.

This period also saw the entry into force of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its 1997 Kyoto Protocol, as well as the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in 1994 and the Convention on Biological Diversity in 1993.

It was the steady perseverance of climate scientists, supported by the activities of WMO and other partners that ultimately brought climate change to the forefront of the global agenda. The 2001 IPCC Third Assessment Report concluded: “there is now stronger evidence for a human influence on the global climate”. The 2007 Fourth Assessment Report stated that “warming of the climate system is unequivocal” and that “most of the observed increase in global average temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely due to the observed increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations.” Three climate conferences have taken place till now in 1979, 1990 and 2009.

IMD has been the founder member of WMO. It plays an important role as a member of Regional Association-II (Asia) under WMO. The participation of IMD in various activities of WMO is:

· Regional Telecommunication Hub (RTH), New Delhi for exchange of meteorological data and information among international community.

· Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre (RSMC) for providing Tropical Cyclone Advisory to countries of Indian Ocean

· Regional Training Institute at Pune for providing Meteorological Training to officials from South East Asia, Middle East countries and Africa.

· IMD has extended International Co operation in Meteorology with various countries e.g. Maldives, Nepal, Srilanka, USA, Russia, China and France.

Presently India Meteorological Department has taken up an extensive modernization programme with the following objectives and expected outcomes to enhance weather services in the country which will lead to more IMD prominence in WMO.

· Induction of advanced technology for observational systems e.g. Automatic Weather Stations (AWS), Doppler Weather Radars (DWR), advanced satellites and upper air observations network.

· Installation of a centralized information processing system and its link with the national meteorological centers.

· Assimilation of satellite data and products into NWP models.

· Improved data dissemination and better public access.

· Induction of more objective forecasting system.

· Improvement in public weather services (PWS) and early warning system.

As an outcome of the Modernization programme there are District level forecast services, now forecasting severe weather events, Extended range (10-20 days or a month) Forecast; Increased accuracy of short, medium and long range forecasts; Multi hazard early warning; Real Time Data Availability; Quicker response time for management and Improved Spatial and Temporal Coverage.

New Delhi. Heart Care Foundation of India today released messaged on TB on the World TB day occasion. Dr KK Aggarwal President, Heart Care Foundation of India, said that TB is curable provide one knows the formula of 3 ( do not ignore cough of more than 3 weeks and get 3 sputum TB test done)

• India has the largest number of tuberculosis cases in the world.

• Tuberculosis is a curable disease.

• For complete recovery, full and adequate treatment of tuberculosis is important.

• Most tuberculosis drugs are safe and have minimal side effects.

• A minimum six months of treatment is required for a patient with tuberculosis.

• DOTS is an effective way of controlling tuberculosis.

• Tuberculosis is caused by bacilli spread through droplet infections.

• Tuberculosis patients should dispose their sputum by burning, burying it in the soil or disinfecting them with a disinfectant.

• All cases of tuberculosis are not contagious. Only sputum positive TB patients are infectious to others.

• Even contagious tuberculosis can become non-infectious within one week of effective treatment.

• Tuberculosis can be of lungs (pulmonary) or outside the lungs (extra pulmonary). In 85% of cases, lungs are involved.

• In tuberculosis of the lung, often an X-ray chest is the first investigation to be asked.

• Tuberculosis can infect people of any age or sex.

• Do not ignore a cough of more than two weeks.

• Every cough with or without sputum is not TB.

• Blood in sputum may be an indication of tuberculosis.

• Even in pregnancy, tuberculosis requires full treatment.

• Diagnostic tests for tuberculosis are available free of cost by the Govt.

• Tuberculosis treatment is available free by Govt. of India.

• TB infection and TB disease are not the same.

• 90% of those infected may not develop TB in their life time.

• 10% of HIV positive patients will develop TB every year.

• After 5 months of treatment if the patient has not responded, suspect a drug failure.

• Relapse or re-infections can occur in a patient with TB.

• TB drugs are often taken as single dose. Divided doses are not recommended.

• Non-healing ulcer on the skin may be an indication of skin TB.

• Drug resistant TB cases should be handled by a specialist.

• Transient rise in liver enzyme reports are well-known in early weeks of TB treatment.

• TB can occur any time in the course of HIV infection.

• Doctors should not prescribe corticosteroids routinely in the treatment of TB.

• TB can cause collection of water around the heart or around the lungs.

• TB of the intestine is of a common occurrence in our country.

• TB can be a common cause of infertility in women.

• TB of the brain is the most life threatening of all forms of TB.

Like the rest of the World, India, particularly the meteorologists of the country will be observing the World Meteorological Day on the 23rd March, 2010. It is on this day in 1950, the World Meteorological Organisation was founded as an unit under the United Nations with its headquarters at Geneva to highlight the WMO’s efforts to mitigate human suffering and support sustainable development. This year’s theme for the World Meteorological Day is ‘60 years of service for the safety and welfare of the mankind.’

Unlike in the past, meteorology today covers not just weather science but the entire gamut of earth sciences. It is being used to predict natural calamities like floods, droughts and earthquakes. It is also being used by mariners and those who manage road and air traffic. All this, however, became possible with the advent of meteorological observation towers, weather balloons, radars, artificial satellites, high speed computers and also different mathematical models. Needless to say that India which produced great weather experts in the past, continues to contribute significantly to the growth of this science at present.

It is well known that weather related data from Indian satellites is now used by several countries. Since August 1983 when the first INSAT series of multi-purpose satellites, INSAT-1B was launched, India has put 10 INSAT satellites into the space for weather observation. The launch of INSAT-1 A was aborted. Later in September 2002, ISRO launched a dedicated weather satellite Kalpana- 1 into a Geo- stationery orbit. Besides, India has put into the space 10 remote sensing satellites of which the latest one was Oceansat II. Designed to work for five years, the satellite was launched on September 23 last year from the ISRO’s launch pad at Sriharikota on the Bay of Bengal coast with a PSLV rocket along with six other satellites of different countries. The satellite is giving yeoman’s service by identifying potential fishing zones, sea-state forecasting, coastal zone studies, weather forecasting and climate studies. Oceansat data on the presence of fish schools are provided to various fishing harbours in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pardesh and Kerala in the local languages of the states. Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Dr. K. Radhakrishnan, says, a study conducted on 700 fishing vessels in the three states revealed that the Oceansat data have helped them saving fuel and time in locating the fishes. He said, “ On an average, a fishing vessel saved anything between one to six lakh rupees per year.”

Besides deploying a large number of satellites in the space for weather observation, Indian scientists have been regularly visiting Antarctica since 1981 for weather and hydrological studies. To understand the oceanic processes and their application for the benefit of the peoples of the Indian Ocean region, India took a leading part in the establishment of Indian Ocean component of Global Ocean Observing System (IOGOOS). At present, it is also coordinating an international project on the Indian Ocean that would provide periodic profiles of temperature and salinity of the upper ocean up to a depth of 2000 metres to understand the structure and dynamics of the upper ocean that influence climate. The importance of the project lies in the fact that although, the oceans play an important role in climate change, the symbiotic connection between ocean and atmosphere particularly in terms of exchange of heat and mass is still not well understood.

Like IOGOOS, the WMO has been sponsoring several other programs to understand the better phenomenon of climate change across the globe. Its programs have three goals. The first one is to improve systematic weather and climate observations and to reconstruct the past climate periods. The second and third objectives respectively are redefining climate modeling to reduce uncertainties inherent in long term climate prediction and ensuring that the advances in climate science contribute to sustainable development. While continuing with the efforts to better understand the phenomenon of climate change, the WMO has also sounded a caution that over the one and a half decades the number of disasters of hydro-meteorological origin has increased significantly. World wide, recurrent drought and desertification seriously threaten the livelihood of over 1.7 billion people who depend on the land for most of their needs. It says that the changes in the climate observed over the past few decades will continue to present urgent and growing challenges to many aspects of our lives including health. A WMO document, however, says that the nations across the globe have still not realized that the future cost of inaction to protect climate is expected to exceed by far the cost of timely action. While there are phenomena like El –Nino in the Pacific Ocean and Sun entering a 11 year long hot phase, humans are also contributing to global warming through fossil fuel burning. Former Secretary General of the WMO, Prof. Godwin O. P. Obasi has warned “ The measures contemplated in mitigating climate change so far are inadequate to protect our future climate.” He stressed that the international community should, therefore, commence action now through the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol to adequately curtail the emission of green house gases and address the key scientific issues.

There will be meetings, seminars and other functions in different parts of the country where weather men will exchange ideas, share experiences and deliberate on how best to use the knowledge of this fledgling science for the welfare of not just Indians but the entire mankind.

Distribution of water in time and space is uneven and hence the judicious utilization and management of water resource is of utmost importance. The web based GIS Information systems has emerged as an advanced tool with an advantage of accessing spatial/non spatial information for decision making, effective planning and management of water resources. It also creates a unique facility for sharing spatial information among a virtually unlimited number of users.

In this regard, CGWB has developed a “Web enabled Ground Water Information System (WEGWIS)” for the users of water sector, which provides a complete solution to the decision makers for formulating, monitoring macro/micro level schemes etc. The WEWIS comprises the spatial database infrastructure connected through Internet/Intranet. The system has been developed to provide a unified internet based access to water related information (spatial/non spatial) for policy planning and management.

A need was felt to create spatial and non spatial datasets related to hydrology and their linking with various socio economic data for planning and management of water resources projects in a holistic manner. Under the World Bank aided Hydrology Project an initiative was made by CGWB to create spatial data base in respect of various themes related to ground water for the entire country utilizing source map on 1: 250,000 scale. As envisaged, these datasets are also to be integrated with the Dedicated Software developed for ground water data processing centers.

In this regard, CGWB has acquired digital topo map of nearly 348 degree sheets covering entire country on 1:250,000 scale from Survey of India (SOI). As per the agreement, the data provided by SOI has single user license and is non-transferable. As the spatial data in respect of layers such as Landuse, Geomorphology, Soils, Geology, Geological structures etc. is not available in digital form with the concerned agencies, the paper maps in respect of these layers have been acquired from different departments preferably on 1:250,000 scales and has been digitizes through National Informatics Centre, New Delhi.

Development of the Web Enabled Grounder Water Information System

The WEGWIS is an WEB GIS service which provides a functional internet based platform for accessing water related maps and data for decision making and planning. The information available would be disseminated as per the map restriction policy of the Government.

WEGWIS have been integrated with the thematic data, the dynamic data such as water level/water quality, other ground water related information and socio-economic databases. The information available on different scales i.e. 1:1 million, 1:500,000 and 1:250,000 has been be seamlessly integrated and would be visible based on the user selectable zoom level.

The CGWB application will be a client-server based web GIS application. The users will access the CGWB application through Internet browsers. The application will interact with the spatial database and retrieve the information from the database through GIS based services.

The GIS functionalities in this application is designed to cater to multiple categories of CGWB users – simultaneously – on internet browser along with functionalities of map navigation/exploration, selection of features, spatial queries, query builder, contain query, various map browsing tools, thematic mapping, district and watershed wise masking, report generation, printing and email, graph and chart generation, metadata explorer, GEMS data Integration and some pre-defined queries.

 

Various users spread across the Internet and intranet will access the CGWB application running on the web server, using a web browser for performing various tasks such as map browsing, making queries, analysis etc. The CGWB application will have a common interface for all authenticated users with specific access to certain functionalities.

This CGWB application will advantageous over the existing system in the following ways:

I still remember my childhood,

Love, affection and chide of my mother,

Weeping in a false manner,

Playing in the moonlight,

Struggles with cousins and companions,

Psuedo-chide of my father,

I still have everything with me,

But i miss,

Those childhood memories

Man has become octopus,

entangled in his own clutches,

fallen from sky to earth,

new foundation was made,

of rituals, customs and manners,

tried to come out of the clutches,

but not

waiting for doom`s day

World Forestry Day is an international event celebrated on 21 March every year. It has been celebrated around the world for 30 years to remind communities of the importance of forests and the many benefits which we gain from them.

The concept of having a World Forestry Day originated at the 23rd General Assembly of the European Confederation of Agriculture in 1971. Later that year, March 21, the autumnal equinox in the Southern Hemisphere and the vernal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere was chosen as the day to be celebrated offering information about the three key facets of forestry, protection, production and recreation.

Forests have been of great importance to mankind since prehistoric days. A forest just doesn’t mean trees only but it’s an entire complex, living community. Many populations of plants and animals dwell beneath the forest canopy. The forest soil is home to large variety of invertebrates, bacteria and fungi which play an essential role in recycling nutrients in the soil and the forests.

Forests provide multiple benefits to environment, people, and animals. Forests, supply many products like timber for making furniture, houses, ships and railway sleepers, plywood, fuel wood or charcoal, paper, processed wood products like cellophane, plastics, synthetic fibers like rayon and nylon, rubber from the latex of rubber tree. Fruits, nuts and spices are gathered from the forest. A lot of medicinal plants such as camphor, cinchona also come from the forests.

The roots of the trees hold the soil together and thus help to conserve soil by preventing rapid runoff water after heavy rain and minimizing flooding. Trees absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen into air which is needed to breath by the mankind. Vegetation affects local and global climate. Trees form a protective cover of the earth as well as provide shelter to the wild animals and protect all the living beings from the solar heat and regulate the temperature of earth. Forests reduce light reflection, offer a sound barrier and help guide wind direction and speed. Similarly wildlife is important for it is an important part of the lifecycle.

The need of the hour is to save forests, because reckless felling of trees is creating problems. The forest coverage has reduced to 30% as opposed to 60% earlier. The theme for this year’s World Forestry Day is “Forests and Biodiversity’. This day aims to provide opportunities for people to learn how forests can be managed and used sustainably.

Forest biological diversity is a broad term referring to all these life forms found within the forest areas and the ecological roles they perform. It encompasses not just trees but the multitude of plants, animals and micro –organisms that inhabit forest areas and their associated genetic diversity. It can be considered at different levels, including the ecosystem, landscapes, species, populations and genetics. Complex interactions can occur within and amongst these levels. In biological diverse forests, this complexity allows organisms to adapt to continually changing environment conditions and to maintain ecosystem functions.

In the last 8000 years about 45% of the Earth’s original forest cover has disappeared, cleared mostly during the past century. The food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) recently estimated that about 13 million hectares of the World’s forests are lost due to deforestation each year. The annual net loss of forest area between 2000 and 2005 was 7.3 million hectares (equivalent to the net loss of 0.18 percent of the world’s forests).

In the past, timber production was regarded as the dominant function of forests. However in recent years this perception has shifted to a more multi –functional and balanced view. Other forest functions and services, such as recreation, health and well -being, biological diversity, maintenance of ecosystem services and the mitigation of climate change, are now recognized as part of the importance of forests and have biological diversity. It is increasingly being recognized as both a complex and unique element .

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) addresses forests directly through the expanded programme of work on forest biological diversity (annex to decision Vi/22), adopted in 2002 by the Conference of the Parties at its sixth meeting. The forest work programme constitutes a broad set of goals, objectives and activities aimed at the conservation of forest biodiversity, the sustainable use of its components and the fair and equitable use of the benefits arising from the utilization of forest genetic resources. The programme of work on forest biodiversity consists of three elements conservation, sustainable use, and benefit- sharing; institutional and socio-economic enabling environment and knowledge, assessment, and monitoring.

New Delhi. Water–soluble aspirin and clot-dissolving drugs can stop most heart attacks in progress, reduce disability and save lives. They work best if given within one hour of when sings of heart attack begin to appear.

It is therefore important to recognize the warning signs of a heart attack and act right away, said Dr. K K Aggarwal, President, Heart Care Foundation of India.

Every year, over 24 lakh people die of heart attacks in India. About half of those deaths take place within one hour of the onset of warning signs and before the patient ever reaches a hospital.

The 5 Warning Signs of a Heart Attack, which every body must know

• Pain or discomfort in the jaw, neck or back

• Feeling weak, lightheaded, or faint

• Chest pain or discomfort

• Pain or discomfort in the arms or shoulder

• Shortness of breath

Act fast

• Take 300 mg water–soluble aspirin and chew it if a heart attack is suspected.

• Get yourself rushed to a nearest heart centre for clot–dissolving therapy.

• You may require an emergency angiography and angioplasty to remove the clot.

• If there is a cardiac arrest, the bystander should give chest compression, 100 per minute, over the centre of the chest for the next 10 minutes.

New Delhi. Government agencies have procured 242.79 lakh tonne of rice in the current marketing season so far. As on 16th March 2010, paddy procurement in terms of rice stood at 242.79 lakh tonne which is just 2 percent less than the rice procured on this date last year ( i.e. 248.69 lakh tonne) which was a record production and procurement year.

But in view of drought like condition in 337 districts of the country, this is a significant achievement. Moreover, it is more than the rice procured by the government agencies in 2003-04 and near about the quantity procured in 2004-05. Apart from this, the procurement process is still on and in the last marketing season, about 88 lakh tonne rice was procured from March 16 till September 30, 2009.

Punjab has contributed 92.68 lakh tonne followed by Andhra Pradesh 33.35 lakh tonne, Chhattisgarh 29.97 lakh tonne, Uttar Pradesh 24.32 lakh tonne, Haryana 18.13 lakh tonne and Orissa 16.49 lakh tonne.

New Delhi. Regular consumption of polyphenol–rich cocoa products like dark chocolate may be considered a part of dietary approaches to lower BP, provided there is no total gain in calorie intake, said Dr. K K Aggarwal, President, Heart Care Foundation of India.

Drug treatment is the basis of blood pressure control, and it should always be accompanied by lifestyle measures such as exercise and proper diet. The recommendation is an occasional cup of cocoa but not chocolate milk, because it is high in sugar and fat.

According to a survey of medical literature by German researcher, Dr. Dirk Taubert from the University Hospital of Cologne, Cocoa–rich products help lower high blood pressure and not tea. They covered 10 studies on cocoa that included 173 participants and five tea studies with 343 participants. The cocoa studies lasted an average of two weeks, with four out of five trials reporting a reduction in both systolic and diastolic BP.

The average reduction was 4 to 5 mm HG in systolic pressure and 2 to 3 mm in diastolic pressure –– enough to reduce the risk of stroke by 20 percent and of coronary heart disease by 10 percent. No such reduction in blood pressure was noted in any of the tea trials, which lasted an average of four weeks. Tea and cocoa contain different kinds of polyphenols –– flavan–3–ols in tea, procyanids in cocoa.

New Delhi. Department of Fertilizers is administering Concession Scheme for decontrolled P & K fertilizers, which is currently effective upto 31.3.2010. As per the scheme, the fertilizers viz. DAP, MOP, NPK Complexes, MAP, TSP, Ammonium Sulphate (AS) and Single Super Phosphate (SSP) are provided to the farmers at the subsidized rates. The Government has now introduced a Nutrient Bases subsidy Policy in respect of Phosphatic & Potassic fertilizers w.e.f. 1.4.2010 which will replace the outgoing Concession Scheme for P&K fertilizers. Urea is also a subsidized fertilizer administered under the New Pricing Scheme (NPS).

The amount of subsidy released by Department of Fertilizers during 2008-09 was Rs. 99494.71 crore, whereas it was Rs. 43319.16 crore during 2007-08. The subsidy outgo on fertilizers has increased substantially during the past few years with about 94% of the increase due to rise in international prices of fertilizers and inputs and only 6% is attributable to increase in consumption.

The food production during 2007-08 was 230.78 million tonnes and during 2008-09, it was 234.47 million tonnes. This information was given by the Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers Shri Srikant Kumar Jena in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.

Lahore, a movie, which is an attempt to improve the Indo-Pak relation through sports, is all set to make mark and open to the audiences, globally on 19th March, 2010.

A venture of Warner Brothers and Sai Om film , LAHORE is the most critically acclaimed film of this season. The cast and crew of Lahore including Nafisa Ali, Mukesh Rishi, Debutants Aanaahad and Shraddha Das along with Director Sanjay Puran Singh Chauhan and Producer Sunil Sharma was in city to promote the movie.

Shot in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Lonavala, Malaysia and of course at Lahore in Pakistan, the film Lahore has already won many international awards, including Best Feature Film Jury’s Award at the 42nd World Fest (Houston), Most Aspiring Filmmaker at International Filmmaker Fest (UK), Best Actor Award at Salento International Film Festival (Italy), Best Actor Award at Tenerife International Film Festival Award (UK) and six nominations including Best Picture and Best Director at Asian Fest of First Film (Singapore). Now the real test of the film has to be at the hands of audiences.

The story of LAHORE is about Veerender Singh from India, played by Debutant Aanaahad, who is living with an aspiration to quench the thirst of revenge for a long forgotten wrong doing and restore the lost pride. He has to satisfy the nation and a billion. Though he is a sportsperson, who has to win the Kickboxing Tournament for his nation, but more than this sport, is a vengeance mounting deep somewhere in his heart which is much bigger than any victory. Will he be able to retain the pride of his country as well as fulfill his wish and retaliate back for one ill event that changed his life forever? Is what is to be seen….

The name of the film was termed LAHORE because it’s the place that brings the story into culmination. “I envisaged the plot for Lahore 14years back when little was it on my mind that I would direct a film around it, and had been shaping its story ever since. Being a kick-boxer myself in the International arena, I was aware of the antagonism between two players and the bitterness added by people around. Having been an integral part of that world became my strength to portray what I have in my film today. Every day and every night of Lahore has been a memorable journey. However, it’s the difficulties that make a journey worthwhile. Lahore was a dream I believed in, and every single day of the making was like waking up to relive the dream,” is what the Director Sanjay Chauhan has to say about his experience of Lahore.

Lahore is being looked as the most authentic sports film ever made in India and has some of the best technicians from Bollywood and Hollywood working on it. It’s grand Production Design has been done by Kesto Mondal, Music by legendary M M Kreem, Action Choreography has been done by Master Tony Leung Siu Hung, Wayne Sharpe has done the original background score, it also had Rob Miller of Chak De fame as Sports consultant.

With a passion for making meaningful cinema, Sai Om Films have made their foray into the Hindi Film Industry with their maiden venture, Lahore, Sai Om Films started off with an office in Delhi however, within a due course of time landed in the hub of Hindi Films, Mumbai. The Delhi office is headed by Chairman Mr. I. S. Khatkar while the film is produced by Vivek Khatkar and J.S. Rana under the same banner. Lahore is directed by Sanjay Puran Singh Chauhan and is an intensely gripping tale set against the backdrop of kickboxing.

New Delhi. Restricting salt in the diet can lower the risk of developing heart disease by 25 percent and the risk of dying from heart disease by 20 percent, said Dr. K K Aggarwal, President, Heart Care Foundation of India. Dietary intake of sodium among Indians is excessively high.

Quoting an Harvard Medical School study published in British Medical Journal, Dr Aggarwal said that among hypertensive individuals, lowering sodium is quite well established to lower blood pressure, but now it has been shown that reducing salt also has an effect on cardiovascular disease.

When people with ‘pre–hypertension’, reduced their salt intake by about 25–35%, they were 25% less likely to develop cardiovascular disease 10 to 15 years after the trial ended. There was also a 20 percent lower death rate from cardiovascular disease among those who cut their salt consumption.

Salt restriction is best achieved by avoiding salted, salt–cured and salt–smoked foods such as lunch meat, hot dogs, ham, olives, pickles and regular salted canned foods, and other prepared foods, which often use more salt than home–made equivalents. Foods we would never think of as salty, such as breakfast cereals, cookies, and even some soft drinks, often contain copious additions of sodium.

The National Archives of India is celebrating its 110th Foundation Day on 11 March 2010, as a repository of non-current records of the Government. It was on 11 March 1891 that the Department was established as Imperial Record Office at Imperial Secretariat Building, Calcutta, with G.W. Forrest as the first Officer-in-Charge of the Department.

Following the transfer of capital from Calcutta to New Delhi in 1911, it was imperative that the Imperial Record Office (IRD) would also be transferred to the new capital. The present building which was designed by Edwin Lutyens became the permanent abode of records of the Government in 1926. After Independence, the IRD was rechristened as National Archives of India and Head of the Organisation was designated as Director of Archives from Keeper of Records. Dr. S.N. Sen, who succeeded A.F.M. Abdul Ali and held office till 1949 gave an overall orientation to the activities of Imperial Records Department/National Archives of India. For the first time, records were thrown open for bonafide research in 1939 and by 1947 all pre 1902 records were available for consultation. A Conservation Research Laboratory (CRL) was established in 1940 to conduct researches into problems relating to conservation which was, Dr Sen’s visionary contribution. Training in Archives Keeping was introduced in 1941 and in 1944, a scheme of Post War Re-organisation of Archives offices in India was laid down by the Indian Historical Records Commission. In 1947, the Departmental Journal The Indian Archives came into existence which contains research papers on source material of modern Indian history, conservation of documents, records-management, reprographics, archival awareness and all other allied aspects of functional archives.

Thus, National Archives of India marched towards the path of progress after Independence to play a more dynamic and inspiring role in the archival field of the entire country. It witnessed manifold expansion of its activities since then in the field of accession of public records, acquisition of private papers/ collections and library material, records management, research and reference, publication, training, conservation, reprography, outreach programmes, coordination at national and international level and expansion of office at regional areas. The Department witnessed further impetus to its status in June 1990 when the office of the Director of Archives was re designated as Director General of Archives. At present National Archives of India is an attached office under the Ministry of Culture and has a Regional Office at Bhopal and Records Centres at Jaipur, Puducherry and Bhubaneswar.

National Archives of India has in its custody, a rich collection of Private Papers which have been acquired mainly through donations and gifts from a variety of sources. These papers constitute a valuable supplement to the information contained amongst public records. Major collections of Private Papers are those of Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Dadabhai Naoroji, M R Jayakar, Maulana Azad, G.K. Gokhale, Sardar Patel, P.D. Tandon, Minoo Masani, etc. It also houses the files of the Indian National Army.

A rich collection of about 1.5 lakhs documents is available among the Oriental Records (OR) comprising manuscripts, parwanas, hukums, kharitas, farmans, etc., in Persian, Arabic, Urdu etc., Among the rare and valuable collections of documents are the Fort William College Collection, Inayat Jang Collection, Mathura Documents, Gujarat documents, Haldiya Papers etc., All these papers are available for consultation as per the Public Record Rules, 1997.

Oriental Records Division has a large collection of Records comprising of rare manuscripts, single unit documents and rare books in Persian, Arabic, Urdu, English, Hindi, Modi, Rajasthani, Marathi, Turkish, Bangla and in many other languages and in various scripts. Some of the major collections are:

The Inayat Jung collection numbering to 1,37,000 approximately, is the Official Mughal Documents. It consists of reports, day to day accounts and revenue figures which were sent regularly to the Diwan of the Deccan by the individual Diwans of the six provinces of the Deccan. Collection can be found of the following Emperor’s - Aurangzeb (period covered 1658-1707); Azam Shah (1707); Shah Alam Bahadur Shah I (1707- 12); Jahandar Shah (1712- 13); Farrukh Seyar (1713- 19); Rafiud Darajat (1719); Rafiud Daulah (1719); Muhammad Shah (1719-48); Ahmad Sha (1750-52) and Shah Alam II (period covered 1768-74).

The Haldia Collection in Persian and Urdu are 1060 documents. These documents throw light on the political role of the Haldia family in Rajasthan.

There are approximately 14,000 other documents in different oriental languages especially in Persian and Urdu. These documents are related to different regions and deal with different aspects of polity, society and culture. For example:-

· A collection of 149 documents which throw light on Emperor Akbar’s policy of religious tolerance as he gave hundreds of Bighas of land grants to 35 temples in Mathura.

· Another collection of 125 documents furnishes details of the qanungoi and other offices held by a zamindar family of Sonepat during 18th - 20th century.

· Another collection of 150 documents throw light on the revenue grants in Bihar under the Mughals.

· A large collection of documents belong to Sandila and Jais region which deal with revenue free grants to individuals, religious heads etc. These documents also bring to light the agrarian structure and the role of various classes in the agrarian economy under the Mughals.

· A collection of 63 documents deal with the urban structures particularly in Gujurat.

· A collection of 70 documents gives information about the spread of slavery with special reference to Allahabad region.

· A collection of 133 documents are related to maths in Gujurat (Pakistan).

· Another collection deals with the Deccan States about the revenue grants, jagir administration etc.

· Another 25 Photostat documents deal with the establishment of Mughal administration in the Cooch Behar region.

· A collection of 125 documents gives information on the rising fortunes of a zamindar family in Malwa region.

· Another collection of 150 shed light on the local administration in Tonk and interference of the East India Company in its day to day working.

· A collection of 31 documents reflect the British policy towards the lakhiraj revenue free grants in Orissa.

The National Archives of India has acquired about 400 manuscripts mainly in Arabic Persian , Urdu, Sanskrit, Sharda and Bangla etc., on different subjects such as religion, history, lexicon, literature, biography, agriculture and medical science etc. by way of purchase or gift. The manuscripts are dating back to 10th century down to the 20th century.

It has also acquired by way of purchase or gift about 300 books in Persian, Urdu, Hindi and other Oriental Languages which deal with different subjects like religion, history, literature, biography, agriculture and medical science, travelogues etc.

An important collection of OR Division is Fort William College Collection of books and manuscripts. This important collection has been inherited from the British East India Company through its prestigious College of Fort William at Calcutta. Major part of the collection was taken back to India Office library, London and remaining manuscripts and books were transferred to the then Imperial Record Office (Presently National Archives of India). The collection comprises of about 200 manuscripts and 1000 books and has very important works. This valuable collection in Arabic, Persian, Sanskrit and Bengali cover subjects like, religion, lexicon, epistolography, literature, history, animal husbandry, astrology, medical sciences etc. The chronological range of this collection is 10th century to 19th century. Some of the worth mentioning titles are: Tarfsir Fath al-Aziz, Jawahar al Tafsir, Fatwa-i-Alamgiri, Fatawa Ibrahim Shahi, Fath al-Qadir, Futuhat-i-Makkiya, Tasawwuf-i-Shi’i, Razm Nama, Bhagwat Gita, Zabur, Zakhirat al-Muluk, Dabistan-i-Mazahib, Shamail al-Nabi, Bahar-i-Ajam, and many more important works of Lexicons. (All the collection of documents, manuscripts and books are arranged as per their Accession Nos. except the Fort William College Collection of Books and Manuscript (recently transferred from NAI library to OR Div.) which is kept as per their Serial Nos.)

The NAI has Oriental Records in Microfilm Rolls of 4,000 Manuscripts of Rampur Raza Library, 16,000 exps. of Miscellaneous Oriental Records and one Roll of Central Asian Antiquities Museum Microfilm

The National Archives of India Library presently has in its custody over 1,70,000 publications comprising Rare books, Reports, Parliamentary Papers and Debates, Monographs, Gazettes, Gazetteers, Travelogues, Native Newspapers, Journals etc., which constitute a most valuable supplementary source of information to the material contained among official records. These publications cover a variety of subjects like modern history and politics, culture, demography, archives, economics, social science, gender studies, tribal studies etc. With the rapid strides being made in information technology, the Library is gearing itself to adopt modern technology to facilitate the task of scholars and make its services more user friendly.

Chandigarh. An intensive drive to enforce the ban on polythene bags was conducted in Village Burail and Apni Mandi in Sector 45. During the course of checking, polythene bags weighing 76 kgs were seized from the shops in the Burail market and the vendors in the Mandi. As per orders of the Deputy Commissioner, Chandigarh, the drive was conducted by the enforcement staff comprising of Inspectors of the Food & Supplies Department and MOH department under the supervision of Sub Divisional Magistrate (South), Mrs. Prerna Puri Wasu.

The Chandigarh Administration has imposed a complete ban on the use and sale of polythene bags in the city with effect from October 2, 2008. The notification in this regard was issued under Section 5 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 for banning the use, storage, import, selling transportation and disposal of polythene and plastic carry bags by any person in the city. Such drives are being regularly conducted for proper enforcement of the ban on polythene.

New Delhi. According to available information, 74 Missing Defence Personnel are believed to be in Pakistani jails, including 54 since 1971.

This information was given by Shri S. M. Krishna, Union Minister of External Affairs in reply to a question by Shri Naveen Jindal in Lok Sabha today. He said that Government has repeatedly taken up the matter with the Government of Pakistan through diplomatic channels and during high-level contacts for their release. However, Pakistan does not acknowledge the presence of any Missing Defence Personnel in its custody. During the visit of External Affairs Minister to Pakistan in January 2007, Pakistan Government was persuaded to receive a delegation of relatives of Missing Defence Personnel to permit them to visit prisons in Pakistan, where they are believed to be incarcerated. A delegation of relatives, accordingly, visited 10 jails in Pakistan from June 1-14, 2007. The delegation could not conclusively confirm the physical presence of the 74 Missing Defence Personnel. Pursuant to the visit of the delegation of the relatives of Missing Defence Personnel, a Tri-Service Committee for monitoring matters on the subject has been formed in the Ministry of Defence. Under the Simla Agreement, the Government is committed to resolving all issues with Pakistan through peaceful negotiations and bilateral dialogue.

New Delhi. March is National Kidney Month and March 11 is World Kidney Day. We all want that our kidneys to last for a lifetime. We all should show our love for kidneys by adopting 10-step program for protecting kidney health, said Padma Shri and Dr B C Roy Awardee Dr KK Aggarwal President Heart Care Foundation of India and Dr N P Singh (Nanu), Professor of Medicine, Maulana Azad Medical College and associated Lok Nayak Hospital. New Delhi.

One should begin with monitoring blood pressure and controlling weight and then move on to the rest of the kidney-healthy tips.

1. Monitor blood pressure and cholesterol.

2. Control weight.

3. Don't overuse over-the-counter painkillers.

4. Monitor blood glucose.

5. Get an annual physical exam.

6. Know if chronic kidney disease (CKD), diabetes or heart disease runs in your family. If so, you may be at risk.

7. Don't smoke.

8. Exercise regularly.

9. Follow a healthful diet.

10. Get tested for chronic kidney disease if you're at risk.

Tips Industries Limited presents the forthcoming film “Prince – It’s Showtime” starring ace actor Vivek Oberoi, Nandana Sen, Aruna Shields and Niroo Singh. The action packed thriller film is produced by Kumar Taurani and directed by debutant Kookie V Gulati. The music of the film is composed by Sachin Gupta and is set to release on 26th March 2010.

Prince.. It's Showtime is based on one of the savviest thieves in the world who commits the biggest heist of his life. He wakes up next morning to realize he has a gunshot wound on his arm that he doesn't remember getting.

In his quest to find answers he discovers his name is Prince, he used to work for a man named Sarang and his girlfriend's name is Maya. He is being hunted by the secret service of India- I Grip, the CBI and the biggest white collared criminals in the world. He is the most wanted man in the country because only he knows the whereabouts of the heist, which contains a secret that is linked not only to his loss of memory but threatens the future of the human race.

Prince can rely only on his razor sharp instincts to salvage himself. The web of deception spins and Prince gets even more entangled. Nothing and no one can be trusted. Every day he meets a new girl claiming to be Maya... Every cop and criminal in the country is out for his blood... He doesn't remember where he has hidden the Heist... He doesn't know which side of the law he is on... His life is at stake...

The future of mankind is at stake... Prince has no one but himself to trust ... Nothing and No One Can Be Trusted.... Failure is not an option... He has just 5 Days of his life... Time is running out will he survive...

The pollution load on major rivers has increased over the years due to industrialization and urbanisation. Use of water for irrigation, drinking, power and other purposes compound the challenge.

The rivers are polluted by the discharge of treated and untreated municipal waste and industrial effluent. All the large and medium industries have installed effluent treatment plants and are generally meeting the prescribed standards (30 mg / 1) with respect to Bio-chemical Oxygen Demand (BOD). However, the cumulative impact of many industrial point sources adds to higher concentration in some pockets of the country. In case of municipal wastewater, it is estimated that Class-I cities (423) and Class –II towns (449) generate more than 33000 million litres of sewage per day against which the treatment capacity exists only for about 7000 million litres per day of sewage in the country. The responsibility of treatment of sewage lies with concerned municipal authorities. Until these authorities are able to treat the sewage to full capacity, the problem of DOB cannot be solved.

River conservation is an ongoing and collective effort of the Central and the State Governments. Pollution abetments works are implemented under the centrally sponsored National River Conservation Plan (NRCP) to improve the water quality in rivers. The NRCP covers identified polluted stretches of 37 rivers, including Ganga, Yamuna, Damodar and Subarnarekha, spread over 20 States in the country. River conservation activities are also being implemented under other central schemes, such as Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small and Medium Towns, as well as under State schemes.

Implementation of river conservation plans is constrained by factors such as land acquisition, inadequate provisions for operation and maintenance of assets created, irregular power supply, under utilisation of sewage treatment plants, non-print sources of pollution etc.

Polluted Stretches

At present, 1365 locations covering 282 rivers are under the scanner of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs).

CPCB updated the list of polluted stretches on the water quality data in the year 2000. 86 polluted water bodies/stretches were identified. Among them, 71 pertained to rivers and 15 to lakes and tanks. Later, based on the water quality data for seven years from 2000 to 2006, 178 polluted water bodies/stretches were identified out of which 139 were on rivers, 33 stretches on lakes, tanks, ponds, 3 on creeks and 3 were on canals.

Criteria for Identification of Polluted Stretch

A polluted stretch is where the desired level of water quality does not meet the defined uses with respect to Bio-chemical Oxygen Demand. In the present exercise, those water bodies having BOD more than 6mg/1 are identified as polluted water bodies. In any stretch of river, the use demanding the highest quality of water is taken as the designated best use. The water quality criterion for each of the designated best use has been given by CPCB.

 The water quality under Class ‘A’ suggest use for ‘drinking water source without conventional treatment but after disinfection, where the dissolved oxygen should be 6 mg/l or more, Biochemical Oxygen Demand should be 2 mg/I or less and total Coliform should be 50 MPN/100 ml. Class ‘B’ is only for outdoor bathing. This water must have dissolved oxygen-5 mg/1or more, Biochemical Oxygen Demand -3 mg/1 or less. Coliform should be 500 MPN/100 ml (desirable) but if it is 2500 MPN/100 ml, it is maximum permissible limit. For Class ‘C’ water can be used as drinking water source with conventional treatment followed by disinfection. Dissolved Oxygen has been stated to be 4mg/1or more and Biochemical Oxygen Demand has been stated at 3 mg/l or less and total Coliform should be 5000 MPN/100ml. Class ‘D’ and Class ‘E’ water quality are for the use for wild life and irrigation etc. The amount of dissolved oxygen at 4mg/l or more and free ammonia at 1.2 mg/l are good for propagation of wildlife and fisheries. The water having 2250 mhos/cu electrical conductivity, sodium absorption ratio 26 or less and Boron at 2 mg/l can be used for irrigation, industrial cooling and controlled waste disposal.

The Centrally Sponsored Scheme of National River Conservation Plan (NRCP) is being implemented by the Central Government jointly with the State Governments on a cost- sharing basis. The pollution abatement works under NRCP presently covers identified polluted stretches of 37 major rivers in 166 towns spread over 20 States in the country. The sanctioned cost of the projects under NRCP is Rs. 4391.83 crore, against which an expenditure Rs. 3868.49 crore has been incurred so far. At present, 783 of the 1064 sanctioned schemes have been completed and a sewage treatment capacity of 3057.29 mld out of the sanctioned capacity of 4212.81 mld has been created. The figures include the works done /being done under the Ganga Action Plan (GAP) Phase-II and exclude those of GAP-I.A sewage treatment capacity has been created under River Action Plans.

The NRCP undertakes pollution abatement works in the rivers for improvement of its water quality so as to make it suitable for bathing. They are Interception and Diversion works to capture the raw sewage flowing into the river through open drains and divert them for treatment; Sewage Treatment Plants for treating the diverted sewage; Low Cost Sanitation works to prevent open defecation on river banks; Electric Crematoria and Improved Wood Crematoria to conserve the use of wood and help in ensuring proper cremation of bodies; River Front Development works such as improvement of bathing ghats etc. and public awareness campaigns.

The funding pattern for the river cleaning programme has undergone several changes over the years. The Ganga Action Plan (GAP) Phase I which started in 1985 was a 100% centrally funded scheme. The funding pattern changed to 50:50 between the Central Government and the State Governments for GAP Phase II in 1993. This was revised again to 100% by the Government w.e.f. 01.04.1997. The funding pattern is 70:30 between Centre and States with effect from 01.04.2001. Of the 30% share of States, a minimum of 1/3rd is to be in the form of share of public /local body.

An amount of Rs. 2100 crore has been provided in the XI Plan (2007-2012) for works under NRCP against the estimated requirement of Rs. 8303 crores, as assessed in the Report by Working Group on Rivers Lakes and Aquifers constituted by the Planning Commission. During the Year 2007-08 Rs. 251.83 crore were spent and in the year 2008-09 an amount of Rs. 276 crore were spent under NRCP.

Problems in Implementation

It is observed that after creation of assets like the Sewage Treatment Plants under the River Action Plans, the State Governments/ urban Local Bodies do not provide for Operation & Maintenance of these assets. There are also cases of non-availability of power supply for operation, lack of expertise and capacity for proper operation and maintenance of the assets. Due to continuous increase of the population and industrialisation along the banks of the rivers leading to increase in pollution and, gap in the availability of financial resources to take up the works commensurate with the requirements, there is always some backlog expected between the required pollution load to be tackled and the actual pollution load to be tackled and the actual pollution abatement works planned to be tackled.

Marginal Success of River Actions Plans

Limited approach of preventing of pollution of river by installation of STPs has been followed .The State Governments carry out pollution abatement works through their implementing agencies where required priority is not given. Operation & Maintenance of assets is often neglected. Another reason is treatment of sewage for control of Coliform in addition to BOD & SS in many of the STPs is not carried out. Water extraction for variety of uses such as irrigation, drinking, industrial use and power are not being controlled by states. In respect of issues like water extraction, ensuring minimum flow, run off agricultural field’s etc. inter-Ministerial coordination is lacking. The work of conservation of rivers so far has been limited to prevention of pollution arising due to domestic wastewater. Other works such as improving the ecology of river, by taking care of aquatic life, reducing soil erosion by ensuring catchments area treatment, etc have not been covered.