News Around

Dallas: With gas prices testing consumers' budgets, a company in USA, Full Flex International, got its creative wheels spinning in its race to find an efficient and safe method to counter rising prices. The option via a Brazilian product from WCV Tools is a Bi-Fuel Manager, called as Full Flex Gold, with microprocessors that adapts to any vehicle with simplicity. Combining the power of ethanol and fuel, it manufactures redlining performance where it pays to drive.

Ethanol is used by high performance sprint cars and is anticipated to revolutionize resource consumption in the future. Used as an alternative to fossil fuels, it burns cleaner producing only carbon dioxide and water. To eliminate the purchase of foreign oils, ethanol can be reproduced from resources such as sugarcane and corn.

Full Flex's association to WCV has been in business since 1989 in the areas of repair and automotive diagnostic equipment and systems development.

(EWORLDWIRE)

Chatham, N.J.: US Air Force Space Command Center in Peterson, Colorado has selected Desktop Alert Enterprise Server for Mass Notification to critical personnel. The Desktop Alert Enterprise Edition Server licenses purchased will guarantee alerts are served to thousands of personnel and machines with critical content delivery to desktops in less then one minute in most scenarios. Desktop Alert is built on the Microsoft .Net Platform.

It has also been selected by McGuire US Air Force Base in New Jersey for a base-wide installation serving alerts to upwards of 10,000 computers on network.

"Desktop Alert has performed superbly for McGuire base-wide, and the team at Desktop Alert is to be commended for a superb product and an even better support staff. System was approved as secure and has bolstered critical communications at the base," said Carlton Powell at McGuire Air Force Base.

Desktop Alert Mass Notification offerings include the ability to publish alerts to thousands of devices on the network for alerting desktops, laptops and mobile devices. Desktop Alert platform architecture provides for alert publication over an internet protocol created on network.

(EWORLDWIRE)

Union, N.J.: Business entrepreneur and jazz musician Leon makes plans to spearhead a fitting tribute to his late mother with a pledge to raise $50,000 for cancer research. By day, Leon helps to improve the fitness and well-being of his clients at Fitness Now, located at 2171 Morris Avenue in Union, New Jersey.

Many clients with different lifestyles find that under his personal training tutelage they are experiencing a renewed appreciation for personal fitness, health and wellness. Likewise, he is also dedicated to young people. As a martial arts instructor, he is personally committed to teaching young people how to become positive citizens in society through character education and martial arts training.

With that very own passion, he will use proceeds from his recently released solo CD, "My Soul Speaks" to realize his goal of $50,000.

(EWORLDWIRE)

New Delhi/Agra: With the software technology park in Agra still a distant dream, Information Technology entrepreneurs are not willing to wait. On Tuesday, The Teton Group Inc., a Las Vegas-based Information Technology and management consulting company, unveiled its plans to develop a data-outsourcing hub in Agra by forming a local partner company, which, according to company sources in Agra and the US, would become operational by November this year.

Talking to Business Standard on the phone from US, Micheal Peltier, chief executive, The Teton Group, said before making its debut in India, the company had conducted detailed surveys in Noida and Delhi before deciding to establish its base in a “lesser exposed” area like Agra.

The city, he said, had immense potential for software professionals who had a desire to work for US-based companies but till date, had to shift to Delhi to get a job with a multinational.

He said a lot of promising software professionals were graduating from the engineering colleges near Agra and were going to Delhi, which was quite close and it was the company’s target to tap this brooding talent by holding campus interviews etc.

He said initially, the company intended to set up a couple of call centers and data-processing operations which should handle the voice and data traffic from US and UK in Agra, for which, it was planning to set up its own facility inside or preferably, on the outskirts of city.

The first step in this direction should begin with the formation of a local partner company in collaboration with some Agra-based entrepreneurs, the process for which should be initiated by October-end following which, the local partner company would be responsible for beginning and expanding the company operations in cities like Agra and Lucknow, where software professionals were easily available, he added. In the first year, he said, the Agra venture was expected to generate a business of approximately $300,000.

By Brij Khandelawal
Agra: A 4-year-old girl in Uttar Pradesh's Firozabad district is being worshipped as a goddess by villagers as she showed early signs of puberty and abnormal physical growth. Little Rasna of Nagla Daya ki Thor village has been made to sit on a raised platform as villagers queue up to make offerings to the 'new goddess'.

Ram Babu, her father, has consulted doctors in Firozabad, 45 kms from here, and Lucknow and most of them are perplexed. "Medical opinion accepts hormonal disturbances around eight or ten years but at four, it's too baffling," said a doctor.

District officials said they could do nothing about superstitious beliefs. "No one has complained as nobody's interests are hurt. So if the villagers want to worship Rasna, it's their wish," said a senior police official.

People from nearby villages are flocking to see the girl who sits nonchalantly on her cot under a tree, surrounded by women who are both surprised and amused. According to Ram Babu, the physical changes were first noticed 4 months ago.

Shivani Chaturvedi, a gynaecologist and endocrinologist, said Rasna should be subjected to a series of ultrasound tests and hormonal checks. "My fear is that she probably has a tumor either in the brain or in her ovaries, which is responsible for release of excess estrogen. This is a case of precocious puberty, which has to be addressed urgently in the interest of the girl's health," Chaturvedi told Www.mediabharti.com. She added: "Cases of early puberty, at around 8-9 years, are becoming common in western countries due to changing lifestyles, but this case is plain abnormal."

(brij.khandelwal@mediabharti.com)

New Delhi: After securing a strong foothold in Hindi heartland, Dainik Jagran now has its eyes set on the English language sphere. The paper has come out with an English weekly newspaper called ‘City Plus’. Noida edition of the paper was launched on September 23, 2006, while the Gurgaon edition is slated for launch on September 30.

8-page, all-color broadsheet constitutes news related to fashion, food, lifestyle and movie reviews, among others. The new offering from Jagran is based on an advertising driven model and is available free of cost. Terming it as a ‘retail product’, Basant Rathore, General Manager, Dainik Jagran, said, “The NCR as a region is witnessing a lot of retail boom, the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) boom followed by a residential boom too. Corporate executives and the upwardly mobile are steadily moving to these towns. The product provides a connect with the decision makers and the upwardly mobile in a language with which they are most comfortable. It’s a platform for the retailers to connect with consumers.”

Initial print run of the Noida and Gurgaon editions is around 50,000 copies each. The group also plans to take its new product to other markets, scale up the number of pages and the print run depending on the response of readers as well as the advertisers. The periodicity factor can also be looked at depending on response.

Jagran has set up its own distribution team and is not going to rely on hawkers for distribution of ‘City Plus’. Targeted at the upper middle class, ‘City Plus’ will be distributed in select commercial and residential areas.

By Brij Khandelwal
Agra: After thousands of dead sea horses, snakes, turtles, scorpions and alligator babies spilled out of formalin-filled containers at a godown here, authorities have offered a Rs.10,000 reward for information on a man believed to be running an international wildlife trafficking racket.

Uttar Pradesh forest department is on the lookout for Brajesh Upadhyaya, the owner of Braj Scientific Laboratory - the hub of the trafficking racket. According to a forest official, it could still take a few more days before the full ramifications and links of the international racket- exposed 12 days ago- are known.

Forest department is still busy categorizing and identifying the various species found in the godown of Braj Scientific Laboratory at Kailashpuri in Agra. The wide array of specimens has surprised the officials and they are still counting the number of dead creatures.

"It's a complicated job, one we have never before done. Therefore, it will take time," said an official to Www.mediabharti.com .

Racket came to light on September 13, when a courier service employee in Sanjay Place commercial complex accidentally damaged a carton, spilling its cargo of dead cobras and creating quite a panic.

Among the 197 containers seized from the godown, the biggest haul was that of sea horses, a kind of fish, and more than 5,000 have already been counted. Some foreign species of fish have also been identified, establishing the international links of the racket.

When the forest department raided Upadhyaya's house, they found thousands of dead creatures stocked in formalin bottles and containers. Department has so far listed over 300 rare species, including vipers, cobras, turtles and dog-faced water snakes, rat snakes, alligator babies, squirrels and scorpions. Upadhyaya was also running a branch in Jaipur. Most of his outsourcing was from Chennai, where officials have conducted some raids.

New Delhi: September 28 is being celebrated as International Right to Know Day, symbolizing a global movement for the Right to Information.

This day assumes significance as India enacted its own law in 2005 empowering the citizens with a law which used judiciously can be an instrument to curtail the direct fallouts of opaque administration such as corruption, inefficiency and arbitrary use of power.

By Brij Khandelwal
Agra: Priests at Bankey Bihari temple in Vrindavan, near here, dressed up the main deity in modern attire, sparking massive protests.

Priests at temple dedicated to Hindu god Krishna, at the request of some fun-loving devotees, gave the deity Thursday a "modern look" complete with jeans and a shirt and wielding a mobile phone.

Activists of groups like Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad termed the move blasphemy and burnt effigies of the priests. They demanded that "those who defiled sanctity of temple" be punished.

Sanskrit scholars like Chandan Lal Parasher and Nirmal Giri of Kailash temple here criticised the "wanton callousness" of Vrindavan priests.

Rashtriya Lok Dal and Brahmin Sabha also organized similar protests. Some have called for the sacking of the priests.

By Brij Khandelwal
Agra: Taj Mahal city of Agra, India's biggest tourist attraction, is begging for more toilets. Senior citizens itching to keep the city clean used the 100th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi's civil disobedience movement to make the demand.

Complaint was that Agra lacked such facilities, even in places of tourist interest. They demanded that the government build more toilets, particularly for women, and that there should be no charge for using the facilities.

One speaker, Subhash Jha, said public toilets should be built in rural areas too. "There have been cases of women being sexually harassed, even raped, when they went to ease themselves in open," he said. "The women are the worst sufferers."

Others berated the authorities for approving multi-storied structures without checking if they had adequate toilets or sewer treatment plants. Said Surendra Sharma, president of Braj Mandal Heritage Conservation Society that organized the meet: "Because of lack of toilets, we see the unseemly sight of men and women squatting along railway tracks and roads." People have to pay money to use toilets at railway stations and bus stands. Bankey Lal Maheshwari of Sri Nathji Nishulk Jal Sewa said: "These should be free for commuters."

An office-bearer of Sulabh Shauchalaya, an NGO which runs public toilets across the country, said: "People are culturally addicted to ease in the open even when there are facilities." Agreed Agra resident Satya Narain Goyal: "People avoid using paid public toilets."

For the "toilet revolution" to succeed, the speakers insisted, there would have to be a public toilet after every kilometer and those easing in open should be severely punished.

By Brij Khandelwal
Agra: Taj Ganj residents, a locality around the Taj Mahal here, are passing days in fear as a possible Supreme Court demolition order looms over them, even as they claim to have natural rights to stay and work there.

In a meeting Monday night, residents decided to move Supreme Court before any decision affecting their lives is taken by the court.

"Stones alone cannot constitute heritage. What of the people, their culture and life styles? How can people living for decades and involved in promoting tourism be thrown out?" an angry resident asked. "Our forefathers built Taj and served the royalty. We have natural rights to stay and work from where we are today," another resident of Taj Ganj locality said.

Local MP bollywood star Raj Babbar will lead the movement to focus attention on their plight. Hotel and Restaurant Association president Sandeep Arora, tourism association leader Abhinav Jain, advocate K.D. Sharma and representatives from various political parties attended the meeting Monday.

On Sep 18, the Supreme Court will hear arguments over the Krishna Mahajan committee report, which has recommended a green belt within 200 meters of Taj Mahal and clearing of the structures at southern gate of mausoleum.

Krishna Mahajan, apex court's commissioner on M.C. Mehta's public interest litigation and 2 officials of Central Pollution Control Board, had prepared a comprehensive report on measures to be taken to address security threats and control crowd movement. The report was already submitted.

Failure of the local bodies to implement the recommendations of a report filed with the apex court back in August 1996 has also become a major issue of controversy.

Archaeological Survey of India and Agra Development Authority were asked to regulate construction activities in the area and clear up the southern gate. When action was initiated in this regard, the residents' protest snowballed into a full-fledged political movement, which forced the authorities to stop their work.

By Brij Khandelwal
Agra: A new shooting range has come up here, giving a platform to local shooters to make a mark for themselves and add to India's bulging international medal kitty.

Ongoing 29th State Shooting Championship is the first competition to be held at the range, which was opened by divisional commissioner Ashok Kumar.

Shooting has become the most productive sport in India, with Rajyawardhan Singh Rathore's silver medal at Athens Olympic Games helping in popularizing the sport. At Melbourne Commonwealth Games in March, Indian shooters ruled the roost winning 27 medals, including 16 gold. Pistol ace Samresh Jung was the pick of lot, as he won 5 gold, one silver and one bronze medal to be named the best athlete of the games. In July, Abhinav Bindra won 10-metre air rifle gold at World Championship in Zagreb, Croatia, and qualified for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Besides Bindra, Gagan Narang, Rathore, Anjali Bhagwat and Manavjit Singh Sandhu have booked their berths for the Olympics.

By Brij Khandelwal
Agra: Hemlata Kala and Priti Dimri, who played an important role in Indian women team's historic Test series win in England, are looking forward to the Asia Cup in December followed by a quadrangular series in February.

The Agra duo also lauded the efforts of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to support women's team, following the merger of Women's Cricket Association of India (WCAI) with BCCI.

"The board gave Rs.100,000 to each player before we left for the England tour," said all-rounder Hemlata. "We will now get to play more matches and the team will also benefit from better coaches," she said, referring to the merger as per instructions from International Cricket Council.

Mithali Raj-led Indian team played 2 ODIs in Ireland prior to the England series and both girls put up a decent performance.

In the Test series against England, Henmlata made 69 and 15 and also picked up 2 wickets for just 16 runs in the first innings of the first Test. Priti, a Chinaman bowler, had a match haul of 5 wickets in same Test, which was drawn. India won the second and final Test to clinch series for the first time in England.

Mill Valley, California: The Alliance Enterprise Corporation has announced a breakthrough in developing an Aerial Landmine System aimed at locating, detecting and mapping deadly landmines.

More than 100 million landmines in 83 countries are holding international communities and industries hostage, preventing the investment in and development of productive lands and the re-building of infrastructure.

A broad variety of landmines have been scattered over productive areas effectively crippling the economy and disabling thousands of children and adults. There are no reliable records that accurately show where these devastating landmines lie in wait for their victims.

With the present day costs to clear a single land mine ranging between $1,000 to $1,500, solving the problem of de-mining lands will reach billions of dollars. TaeCorp, leading company providing Aerial Detection Systems including global de-mining, has developed a technology based, cost effective solution to this problem using its 3 tiered approach to scanning, mapping and removing landmines. TaeCorp's System will provide many social and economic benefits to countries and their industries including oil and gas, mining, agriculture, roads and infrastructure development.