Wednesday, 14 March 2012

Bihar News, Latest News from Bihar, News of Bihar, Biharprabha News

Bihar News, Latest News from Bihar, News of Bihar, Biharprabha News

Some Amazing Facts about Indian Railways

Posted: 14 Mar 2012 06:58 AM PDT

Indian Railways, the largest state run Business in the World has been the center of attraction since a long time. The volume of traffic it handles surpasses all business limitations. Here we look into few of those amazing aspects of Indian Railways.

Operates the third largest railroad network in the world over 63,974km of Rail Lines laid in India
Runs as many as 19,000 trains every day

Figures among the world’s five largest networks along with the US, Russia, China and Canada
Some 12,000 trains are for pasengers and 7,000 for freight

The network has 7,083 stations

Station at Karagpur has longest platform in world of 2,733 feet

Transports 2.65 million tonnes of freight each day

Ferries 23 million passengers every day, 7.2 billion annually

Has 1.36 million employees on its rolls

Seventh largest employer in the world, according to Economist magazine

Ranks as largest employer after the US defence department, the Chinese army, Wal-Mart, China National Petroleum, State Grid of China and British health services

Has an annual revenue base of Rs.1,06,000 crore ($21 billion)

Operations span nearly 170 years

First train operated from Mumbai to Thane on April 16, 1843.

Scientists in Iran develop Aspirin to fight Cancer

Posted: 14 Mar 2012 05:55 AM PDT

Cancer medicineDrugs against Cancer  are getting developed day by day strenthening the cure for this disease. Recently an Iranian scientist has developed a gas-filled aspirin that can boost the cancer-fighting ability of the drug, the Iranian Students News agency (ISNA) reported.
Khosrow Kashfi, associate medical professor and Chemistry, Physiology and Pharmacology coordinator at the City College of New York, developed the gas-filled drug.

The new aspirin has been dubbed “NOSH” — that stands for Nitric Oxide and Hydrogen Sulphide.

The report said that loading aspirin with gas boosts its cancer-fighting ability and might even reduce the harmful side effects of taking aspirin every day.

Aspirin has been shown to be effective in reducing the incidence of cancer. However, it can also cause ulcers and bleeding in the gut, which does not make it a good option for healthy people.

The lining of the gut protects it from damage by producing nitric oxide and hydrogen sulphide. Kashfi’s aspirin produces both gases as the drug breaks down.

To test the new drug, Kashfi’s team added it to cells from 11 types of human tumour, including from colon, pancreas, breast, lung and prostate cancer.

“It turned out to be significantly more potent than aspirin alone,” Kashfi said.

With colon cancer, for example, NOSH-aspirin was 100,000 times more potent than the original drug, causing the cells to stop dividing, wither and die.

It was not clear what caused the increased potency but the results suggested that lower doses would be needed to fight cancer than for regular aspirin.

The new drug appeared not to be harmful to animals. In mice with colon cancer, daily doses for 18 days reduced tumour size by 85 percent with no gut damage.

“We could be looking at a human trial within two years,” Kashfi said.

Rail Biudget 2012 : At a Glance

Posted: 14 Mar 2012 05:13 AM PDT

With minor-to-moderate fare hikes, 96 new passenger trains and focus on safety, Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi tabled his ministry’s budget for 2012-13 Wednesday, promising the highest spending on projects worth Rs.60,100 crore ($12 billion).

“I am asking an extra two paise per km on suburban and ordinary second class. Similarly, an increase of three paise per km for mail and express trains,” Trivedi said in his 105-minute budget speech, listing what will be the first fare hike since 2002-03.

“For sleeper class, I am asking only 5 paise (increase) and for AC chair car and III tier, only 10 paise per km, and for AC II tier 15 paise per km and AC I class by 30 paise per km,” the minister told the Lok Sabha in his maiden rail budget speech.

Accordingly, over a 100-km run, the fares will go up by Rs.2 on suburban and ordinary II class trains, Rs.5 for sleeper class, Rs.10 for AC chair car and III tier, Rs.15 for AC II tier and Rs.30 for AC first class.

“The proposed revisions will have marginal impact on fares,” the minister said, adding: “The proposed adjustments do not even cover fully the impact of increase in fuel prices during the last eight years.”

But there were some immediate reactions opposing the fare hike.

Trivedi’s own Trinamool Congress whose chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, long opposed to any exercise burdening average travellers, has already demanded a roll back.

But Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said it was an exercise in the right direction. “The railway minister has presented a forward looking Budget with emphasis on safety and modernization of the Indian Railways,” he said.

The other highlights of the budget proposals are airconditioned lounges and escalators at key stations, regional cuisine at affordable rates, book-a-meal scheme through SMS and bio-toilets in 200 trains and coin-operated ticket vending machines.

Trivedi, who referred to the word safety as many as 40 times in his speech, said he had vowed to make railways accident free when he experienced the pain of passengers and relatives after an accident in Uttar Pradesh soon after he took charge of the ministry.

“At that very moment, I took a vow to eliminate recurrence of such painful happenings. I decided my entire emphasis is going to be on strengthening safety, safety and safety. Deaths on rail tracks just can never be tolerated and it is not acceptable,” he said.

“I vow to target zero deaths,” he said. “I also propose to set up an independent railway safety authority, as recommended by an expert group headed by the former Atomic Energy Commission chairman Anil Kakodkar.”

The minister listed four other focus areas in the next five years: consolidation, de-congestion and capacity augmentation of the network, modernisation and bringing down the operating ratio. He also stressed on better hygiene and higher speed of trains.

Trivedi said the operating ratio of the railways — amount spent on running the network against revenues — will be lowered to 84.5 percent from the current 95 percent, and to 74 percent by the terminal year of the 12th plan.

This is key to the network being able to garner money for expansion and modernisation.

The minister said he was looking at the current budget not as an exercise for the next fiscal alone, but also for the entire five year plan, drawing from the Vision 2020 document of his predecessor and party chief Mamata Banerjee.

The Indian Railways run the third largest railroad network in the world spread over some 64,000 km, with 12,000 passenger and 7,000 freight trains each day from as many as 7,083 stations to ferry 23 million travellers and 2.65 million tonnes of goods daily.

Along with the networks in the US, Russia, China and Canada, the Indian Railways figures among the top five in the world. Given its socio-economic role, Trivedi said it was time for a national policy on railways on the lines of those for defence and foreign affairs.

According to the minister, Indian Railways will invest Rs.7.35 lakh crore during the 12th Five Year Plan period (2012-17), against Rs.1.92 lakh crore in the current one. By then, it will double its contribution to India’s gross domestic product to 2 percent.

Trivedi said the outlay of Rs.60,100 crore proposed for 2012-13 will be the highest ever and added that the network will require as much as Rs.14 lakh crore in the next 10 years for modernisation.

He said the plan outlay will be financed by way of Rs.24,000 crore through budgetary support, Rs.2,000 crore from safety fund, Rs.18,050 crore from internal sources and Rs.16,050 from extra budgetary resources, which will include market borrowings.

Coming to specific proposals, Trivedi said 85 new line projects would be be taken up during the next fiscal year at a cost of Rs.6,870 crore, even as feasibility surveys would be conducted for another 114 lines.

He said an attempt will also be made to increase train speeds to 160 km per hour from around 90-100 km per hour. With that, he said, a journey from New Delhi to Kolkata will be brought down to 14 hours from 17 hours.

Britishers think that Mount Everest is in Britain

Posted: 14 Mar 2012 04:20 AM PDT

You may call it day dreaming or poor  knowledge of Geography, but a number of people in Britain believe that World’s Highest Peak Mount Everest is in Britain.

Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak (8,848 metres above sea level), is in Nepal while Britain’s highest summit is Scafell Pike (978 metres above sea level).

A study has found that more than one in five adult Briton lacked awareness about the nations comprising their country. Nearly six in ten thought England’s highest peak is Ben Nevis, Snowdon or even Mount Everest, the Sun reported.
The survey revealed that over 20 percent people did not know England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland comprise their country.

One in 20 had no idea that Stonehenge, the prehistoric monument, was in Britain and almost a quarter named Australia’s famed Ayers Rock as a British landmark.

The poll of 2,000 was carried out by tour firm Journeys of Distinction whose Managing Director Karen Gee said: “We were astounded.”

The firm said the internet may be partly to blame, with instant answers so readily available that people feel no need to “store” any knowledge in their brains.

Aishwarya’s Daughter named Aaradhya Bachchan

Posted: 14 Mar 2012 02:34 AM PDT

The daughter of Abhishek And Aishawarya Bachchan who has been nicknamed as Beti-B has finally been given a official name by parents. As per a news daily, her name is Aaradhya Bachchan.

There is no official communication from Amitabh Bachchan or any memmber of the family, but the name of celebrity infant leaked out in media and is creating buzz worldwide

As expected the name is derived out of a Sanskrit word which means one who is worshipped.

The Bachchan parivaar is known for being a patron of Indian culture, hence such a name.

Big B's daughter Shweta, who is married into the Nanda family had named her children Navya Naveli and Agastya.

We must say… the Bachchan parivaar knows how to pick the best names!

Encyclopedia Britannica Shuts down

Posted: 14 Mar 2012 02:34 AM PDT

encyclopedia britannicaEncyclopedia Britannica, World’s largest encyclopedia will shut down its print edition after the present stocks ends. It will however continue to run its online version and is focusing to grow its online version more effectively.

The Encyclopedia Britannica, which has been in continuous print since it was first published in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1768, said on Wednesday it will end publication of its printed editions and continue with digital versions available online.

The flagship, 32-volume printed edition, available every two years, was sold for $1400. An online subscription costs around $70 per year and the company recently launched a set of apps ranging between $1.99 and $4.99 per month. The company said it will keep selling print editions until the current stock of around 4000 sets ran out.

It is the latest move Encyclopaedia Britannica has made to expand its Internet reference services and move farther into educational products. It first flirted with digital publishing in the 1970s, published a version for computers in 1981 for LexisNexis subscribers and first posted to the Internet in 1994.

The print edition became more difficult to maintain and wasnt the best physical element to deliver the quality of our database and the quality of our editorial,’ Jorge Cauz, president of Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc said.

Yet even as publishing industry has created more digital products, it has struggled with financial losses, and Cauz admitted to a ‘long road to profitability’ for many publishers. ‘Britannica was one of the first companies to really feel the full impact of technology, maybe twenty years ago, and we have been adapting to it, though it is very difficult at times,’ he said.

While Encyclopaedia Britannica has continued to operate, he expected ‘many trade publishers will not survive and any content development company will have to be thinking about how they are going to fill the gap.’ As to whether print editions of books will be viable products in the future, Cauz predicted, ‘print may not completely vanish from the market, but I think it is going to be increasingly less important.

Many publications will never have a print analog and will only be printed on digital formats.’ With its scholarly, reliable reputation, Encyclopaedia Britannica had not been affected by the popularity of free online website Wikipedia, he said.

India’s own Spy Satellite RISAT to be launched in April

Posted: 14 Mar 2012 02:19 AM PDT

satelliteIndia’s first indegenious Spy Satellite RISAT 1 ( Radar Imaging Satellite) will be launched this year. RISAT  can see through clouds and fog and has very high- resolution imaging.

ISRO Officials said that thorough tests were being done on the Risat-1. “The Risat-1 is put to thermal vacuum test (a test to check the satellite’s functioning in space environment). It is a complex microwave satellite being built for the first time in India. The satellite is expected to be launched in April,” the senior official told IANS, not wishing to be named because of the organisational rules.

In earlier satellites, one major component, the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) was imported, but in Risat-1 that has also been developed in India.

He said Risat-1 is the first such satellite being built by India and is a bit complex compared to other remote sensing/earth observation satellites built and sent up earlier.

According to ISRO officials, Risat-1 at 1,850 kg is the heaviest microwave satellite to be built by India.

The satellite would be used for disaster prediction and agriculture forestry, and the high resolution pictures and microwave imaging could also be used for defence purposes.

Risat-1 will have all weather, day and night imaging capability.

The satellite’s synthetic aperture radar can acquire data at C-band.

ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan had said last October that the space agency would launch two more satellites – Risat-1 and SARAL – before 2011-end. But that did not happen. He also said two more satellites – AstroSat and Aditya – will be launched in 2012-13.

Remote sensing satellites send back pictures and other data for use. India has the largest constellation of remote sensing satellites in the world providing imagery in a variety of spatial resolutions, from more than a metre ranging up to 500 metres, and is a major player in vending such data in the global market.

In 2009, ISRO had launched 300 kg Risat-2 with an Israeli built SAR enabling earth observation on all weather, day and night conditions. The satellite can look through clouds and fog.

With 11 remote sensing/earth observation satellites orbiting in the space, India is a world leader in the remote sensing data market. The 11 satellites are TES, Resourcesat 1, Cartosat 1, 2, 2A and 2B, IMS 1, Risat-2, Oceansat 2, Resourcesat-2, Megha-Tropiques.

According to ISRO officials, the rocket that would sling Risat-1 will be the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle’s (PSLV) upgraded variant called PSLV-XL.

The rocket would weigh around 320 tonnes at lift-off and will be the third such expendable rocket to be sent up by ISRO, and first time to launch a remote sensing satellite.

ISRO had used the PSLV-XL variant (rocket with extended strap-on motors than what the base model has) for its moon mission (Chandrayaan-1) in 2008 and for launching its communication satellite GSAT-12 in 2011.

The PSLV is a four-stage (engine) rocket powered by solid and liquid propellants alternatively. The first and third stages are fired by solid propellant and the second and fourth stages are fired by liquid propellant.

ISRO has developed three PSLV variants. The first is the standard variant weighing around 290 tonnes with six strap-on motors measuring 11.3 metres with a fuel capacity of nine tonnes.

The other two rocket variants are the PSLV Core Alone without the six strap-on motors and PSLV-XL with longer strap-on motors measuring 13.5 metres having a fuel capacity of 12 tonnes of solid fuel.

Railway Passenger Fares increased after 9 Years

Posted: 14 Mar 2012 01:56 AM PDT

For the first time in past 9 years,ever since the UPA Government took charge, Railway Passenger Fares have been hiked. Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi announced a marginal increase in the cost of Passenger Journey across all classes.

The Fare for Express Train
Local Trains- 2 paise/km
Second Class Express Trains- 3 paise/km
Sleeper Class- 5 paise/km
30 paise/km for 1st AC
15 paise/km for 2nd AC
10 paise/km for 3rd AC
10 paise/km for Ac Chair Car

Additionally the cost of Platform Tickets have also been elevated from Rs 3 to Rs 5. An extra charge of Rs 12 will be levied on all journeys above 300 Kms

“I am asking for an extra only two paisa per km for suburban and ordinary second class, similarly an increase of three paise per km for mail and express trains and for sleeper class only by five paise per km,” the minister said.

Highlights of the Railway Budget 2012-13

Posted: 14 Mar 2012 01:30 AM PDT

Rail Budget has been tabled in Parliament. Dinesh Trivedi is presenting his maiden speech of Budget. Below are the important points raised by him in the budget. Keep Visiting this page for updates as it happens

  • No steep increase in passenger fares; 2 paisa per km for suburban trains; 3 paisa per km for mail and express trains.
  • Independent tariff authority suggested; needs serious debate; experts panel established; decision after debate in parliament.
  • GRP/RPF personnel deployed on 3,500 trains.
  • Free travel by Rajdhani express for Arjuna awardees.
  • Targeting freight carriage of 1,025 million tonnes to bring in Rs.89,339 crore; passenger earnings estimated at Rs.36,073 crore; gross receipts estimated at Rs.1.32 lakh crore.
  • Excess of Rs.1,492 crore after meeting expenses/dividend payments not adequate for meeting costs of several projects.
  • Dedicated railway design wing at National Institute of Design with a contribution of Rs.10 crore.
  • New passenger services: 820 new items; 75 new express trains; 21 new passenger trains; 75 new services in Mumbai suburban system.
  • Guru Parikrama trains to be run to Amritsar, Patna and Nanded.
  • Improvement of passenger amenities at a cost of Rs.1,112 crore; regional cuisines to be introduced.
  • World Bank funding of Rs.6,500 crore firmed up for dedicated freight corridors; land acquired for 3,300 km; first contracts to be handed out during 2012-13.
  • Standard of hygiene needs to be improved substantially; all out efforts will be made on this in the next six months; duty bound to provide high standard of services; special housekeeping body to be set up for stations and trains.
  • Corrosion from night soil being discharged from toilets on tracks costs Rs.350 crore annually; green toilets to be installed in 2,500 coaches in the next one year.
  • Two thousand one hundred specially designed coaches manufactured to meet needs of the differently abled; aim to provide one such coach in each express train.
  • Electrification to be undertaken over 6,500 km at an allocation of Rs.8,000 crore during 12th Plan.
  • Conversion from DC to AC power supply completed in Western Railway corridor of Mumbai suburban rail system; conversion of Central Railway corridor to be completed in 2012-13.
  • Elevated corridor from Churchgate to Virar in Mumbai being firmed up.
  • Government should consider dividend payback to railways.
  • Thirty-one projects over 5,000 km being implemented with state govenments sharing costs.
  • Capacity augmentation to get Rs.4,410 crore during 2012-13.
  • Eighty-five new line projects to be taken up during 2012-13.
  • One hundred and fourteen new line surveys to be undertaken during 2012-13.
  • New line projects to get Rs.6,870 crore in 2012-13.
  • Gauge conversion to be undertaken over 800 km with an allocation of Rs.1,950 crore.
  • Focus during next five years on five areas: tracks, bridges, signalling, rolling stock and stations.
  • Signalling to be improved over 19,000 km.
  • Investment of Rs.1.70 lakh crore on rolling stock in next five years.
  • Attempt to increase train speeds to 160 kmph; journey time from New Delhi to Kolkata can be brought down to 14 hours from 17 hours.
  • Improvements to railway stations can provide employment to 50,000 people.
  • Outlay of Rs.60,100 crore during 2012-13, the highest ever.
  • Railways will require Rs.14 lakh crore in the next 10 years for modernisation.
  • Aim to bring down operating ratio from 90 percent to 84.9 percent in 2012-13 and to 72 percent by 2016-17.
  • Time has come for formulating national policy for railways on the lines of that for defence and external affairs.
  • Indian Railways needs to grow at 10% anually
  • Railways to require Rs 14 lakh crore in next 14 years and need Rs 5 lakh crore from PM’s rail scheme |
  • Railways to invest Rs.7.35 lakh crore during 12th Five Year Plan period (2012-17), a quantum jump from the Rs.1.92 lakh crore invested in previous plan period.
  • Railways must attract 10 percent of the Rs.20 lakh crore government expects to spend on infrastructure during 12th Plan
  • Railways expect gross budgetary support of Rs.2.5 lakh crore during 12th Plan.
  • Collective challenge to formulate viable funding mechanism for modernization.
  • Railways should contribute 2 percent of GDP from the present 1 percent.
  • Stress on strengthening safety. Has to be be benchmarked with the best in the world.
  • Target of reducing accidents from 0.55 to 0.17 has been met.
  • Special purpose vehicle to be set up on safety protocols.
  • Independent railway safety authority to be set up as statutory safety body.
  • Investment of Rs.5.60 lakh crore required for modernisation.

Nitish Kumar sets world record of highest Potato production

Posted: 14 Mar 2012 12:24 AM PDT

potato farming in biharNitish Kumar (not the CM ), a farmer in Bihar has set the world record of harvesting 73 tonnes of Potato per hectare breaking the previous world record of 45 tonnes per hectare setby Farmers in Netherlands.

This might spark second Green Revolution in Bihar as envisaged by the Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

Nitish Kumar, a young farmer of Darveshpura village in his native Nalanda district has set what is claimed to be a world record in potato production through organic farming.
Three months ago, a group of farmers in the same village had created a “world record” producing 224 quintals of paddy per hectare using the SRI (System of Rice Intensification) method.

The potato farmer, Nitish Kumar, has harvested 72.9 tonnes of tuber per hectare. The world record so far was 45 tonnes per hectare held by farmers in the Netherlands, officials said.

Nalanda District Magistrate Sanjay Kumar Agrawal said that several officials and agricultural experts were present in the field at the harvest time to verify the claim and record it.

“The world record is the result of hard labour and experiment with organic farming,” Agrawal told IANS.

Kumar Kishore Nanda, a soil scientist, who helped Nitish in his farming, said success was a result of the organic method of farming. “Once again the organic method of farming proved superior to other methods of farming.”

Nanda said that the loam soil of the village is suitable for several crops, including the potato.

Rajesh Umath, a district horticulture officer, said the new record will certainly go a long way in removing doubts about low production associated with organic farming and encourage other farmers to adopt it.

Nalanda, the home district of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, is already the leading potato producing district in Bihar with farmers growing the crop on over 27,000 hectares.

Bihar is the third largest potato producing state after Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. Last year, five farmers of the village are said to have created a world record when they produced 224 quintals of paddy per hectare.

A young farmer, Sumant Kumar, produced 224 quintals of paddy per hectare beating the world record of Yuan Longping of China with 190 quintals of paddy produce per hectare.

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has certified Sumant Kumar’s record.

The SRI method of paddy cultivation was introduced in the state three years ago. Initially the farmers were reluctant to adopt this new technique despite the state government providing free seeds, fertilisers and experts to guide them. But now more farmers are interested in adopting this method in paddy cultivation.

An upbeat chief minister had then termed it “a big achievement” in the agriculture sector in the state. The next green revolution in the country would be ushered in from Bihar, he had said.
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