News
Power shutdown in chennai for 18th May 2012
May 16th
Power shutdown in chennai for 18th May 2012
KAMARAJ NAGAR AREA: Kamaraj nagar, N.M.road, Avadi TNHB, Vasantham nagar, P.H.road, Govarthanagiri, Paruthipet, Kannapalayam, Avadi Market, Kumaran nagar, Periyar nagar, Anandam nagar.
AMINJIKARAI AREA: Metro Water, Aspiram garden, Green garden, R.V.nagar, New Avadi road, Kutty st, Choliyamman st, Sabapathy st, Mattur st, D.P.Shanmugam st, C.K.st, S.S.Devar st, Police Manickam st.
SEVEN WELLS AREA: Part of Mannady, Part of Broadway, Amman koil st, Anaikaran st, Periyannan st, Krishna Iyyer st, Arumugam st, Govindhappa Naicken st, M.K.garden, Seenu Mudhali st, Seenu Iyer st, Girigori st, Veerasamy st, Paramananthan st, Barracks st, P.V.Iyer st, Sambu Iyer st, Thatha Muthiyappan st, Ramakrishnan st, P.G.Church st, BRN garden, Shanmuga Mudhali st, Pidariyar st, Shanmugarayan st, Thaiappan st, Asirvathapuram, Hacker Jockson st, Jill st, Coral Merchant st, Ramasamy st, Malayappan st, Malayappan st, St. Xavier st, Mint st, Mangammal st & lane, Vaithiyanathan st, Seven Wells st, K.N.Agaraharam, Kuppaiya st, Venkatraman st, Kondaliyer st.
GOVT. ESTATE AREA: Balamuthu st, Ellis road, Nagapparyer st, Big Mosque st, Pallaiyar koil st, GP road, Subathral st, Appavugiramini st, Unis Ali st, Muktharunnisa main st & 1 to 7th st, Chinnathambi st, Kuppumuthu st, Mayor Chittybabu st, TH road, Habibullah st, Adjoining lanes of Ellis road, Burrah sahib st, Border Thottam, Wallajah road, IG Quarters, Thayar sahib 1, 2nd lanes, Nallathambi st, Gulam Muthuza st, Tippu sahib st, Owlia sahib 1 to 7th st, Pycrafts road, Big st, Sivaraman st, TP koil st, Swamipillai st, Veera Perumal koil st, Alangatha st, Venkatachalam chetty st, BV Naicken st, SMV koil st, South Madha st, Thandavarayan st, Dr.Besant road, New MLA Hostel, IAS Quarters (Omandhurar Govt. Estate), Miran sahib st, Venkatesan st, Subramani st, Arunachala st, Murugappa Achari st, Abdul Kareem st, Yusuf Labbai st, CNK road, Wallajah road, Arihant Ocean Building.
Note: The above details are acquired from TNEB website and speakchennai.com does not guarantee for the correctness of information provided
Food prices double in UPAs term
May 16th
NEW DELHI: If inflation has broken the back of the aam aadmi, the biggest contributor to the pain in the UPA’s term is food prices.
Government data on wholesale price index (WPI) shows that there has been a 63% increase in the price of all commodities between April 2004, a month before UPA took charge, and April 2012, the latest period for which data is available. But when it comes to food products, the index has more than doubled from 98 to 206.4. So, you are now spending at least twice the amount you spent in April 2004 just to meet your basic consumption needs.
Of the 60-odd items analyzed by TOI and Crisil, there is just one case – ginger – where the price has decreased, going by the index. In all other cases, there has been an increase. Within these commodities, there are only eight products – guava, coconut, garlic, papaya, onions, turmeric, tea and chicken – where the rise in prices is less than 63%.
For households, especially the poor, food inflation can have the most damaging impact, given that a bulk of spending in the lower income strata is on this segment. While the poor can draw some comfort from the fact that cereal prices are not among the commodities which have seen the maximum jump, the overall increase is still over 90% with wheat and rice, on an average, seeing over 80% increase.
While protein-rich items such as milk, egg, meat and fish have seen prices more than double, it is vegetables that have caused the maximum dent to the housewife’s monthly budget. This segment has seen a 171% jump. So, if you spent Rs 3,000 a month on vegetables seven years ago, you would now be spending over Rs 5,000. Given that cabbage now costs six-and-a-half times more than April 2004, you can draw comfort from the fact that during this period, potato and brinjal prices have only gone up by 111% and 140%, respectively. Similarly, bhindi now costs four-and-a-half times more.
Even fruits have seen a lower spurt of around 90% with prices of mangoes, oranges, apples and pineapple more than doubling. When it comes to spices, black pepper has seen the biggest jump (335%). Coffee makes up the top five commodities in terms of price rise with an increase of 269%
Australia seventh-worst polluter on Earth
May 16th
MELBOURNE: Australia has been ranked as the seventh top polluter mainly due to carbon emissions, a report said.
Conservation group World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in its report said the spiralling global population and over-consumption are threatening the future health of the planet, ABC news reported.
WWF released this year’s Living Planet Report, which has estimated humans are using 50 per cent more resources than the planet can provide. If everyone lived like the average Australian, it would take 3.76 planets to support the world’s population, the report said.
Qatar ranked on the top followed by Kuwait, UAE, Denmark, the United States and Belgium. WWF Australia ecologist Martin Taylor said it’s a top 10 ranking the nation should be ashamed of.
The results of the survey were calculated by comparing renewable resources consumed against the Earth’s regenerative capacity. The demand on natural resources has become unsustainable and is putting “tremendous” pressure on the planet’s biodiversity, the WWF said.
The report found that high-income countries have an ecological footprint on average five times that of low-income ones. “If the rest of the world lived the way we did, we’d need four planets,” Taylor said adding “We’ve only got one I’m afraid so something has to give at some point.”
Carbon emissions are the top contributor to Australia’s footprint, which the report measures in “global hectares” – a measure of the productive land and water area required to support our consumption and pollution levels.
Expedition 31 Blasts Off!
May 15th
After a six-week delay, the crew of Expedition 31 successfully launched aboard a Soyuz TMA-04M rocket on Tuesday, May 15 at 0301 GMT (11:01 p.m. EDT May 14) from Russia’s historic Baikonur Cosmodrome, located in the steppes of Kazakhstan.
The rocket will deliver NASA astronaut Joe Acaba and Russian cosmonauts Gennady Padalka and Sergei Revin to the International Space Station. After a two-day journey, their Soyuz capsule will dock with the ISS at 11:38 p.m. CDT on Wednesday.
The crew was originally slated to launch on March 30, but problems with a pressure test forced a delay until a new Soyuz rocket could be brought into service. In the meantime ISS crew members Don Pettit, ESA astronaut Andre Kuipers and cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko have had the station to themselves since April 27.
The three new crew members will remain on Space Station until mid-September, serving as flight engineers under Expedition 31 commander Oleg Kononenko until July 1, when the current crew will depart and Padalka will assume command, marking the beginning of Expedition 32.
For more news on Expedition 31, visit NASA’s ISS website here. Also, you can follow NASA astronaut Joe Acaba on Twitter @AstroAcaba.
Source : http://www.universetoday.com/95174/expedition-31-blasts-off/
State proposes 17-member panel to preserve heritage buildings
May 15th
An eminent person who has concern and commitment for heritage conservation will head a 17-member Tamil Nadu Heritage Commission, according to a Bill introduced in the Assembly on Monday.
Except for nominees of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage and the Tamil Nadu region of the Institute of Town Planners (India), other members will be government officials or representatives.
Five secretaries of the departments of Tourism & Culture, Housing & Urban Development, Municipal Administration & Water Supply, Rural Development & Panchayat Raj and Law; Museum Commissioner; Archaeology Commissioner; Director of Environment; Chief Engineer (Buildings) in the Public Works Department (PWD); Senior Architect from the PWD and Director of School of Architecture and Planning, Anna University, will form part of the commission.
The State government will also nominate a person who is conversant with archaeology and another from any non-governmental organisation involved in heritage management and cultural affairs. The Superintending Archaeologist in the Chennai Circle of the Archaeological Survey of India will also be a member.
According to the statement of objects and reasons of the Bill, buildings or premises not covered under the Central and State Acts of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains will have to be protected. A statutory authority has to be constituted to advise the government in matters relating to identification, restoration and preservation of heritage buildings as also in such matters concerning the development and engineering options that are likely for any heritage building.
Essentially a recommendatory body, the commission will advise the government on a host of matters including the preparation of classification of buildings in certain grades of heritage buildings; alternation, modification or relaxation of any law for development, control and conservation of any heritage building and whether to allow commercial or other use of heritage buildings. It will also advise the government on guidelines to be adopted by private parties, which sponsor beautification schemes, and on penal measures for defacing or destroying a heritage building.
The proposed body will offer guidance to the government and local authorities on the making of provisions for restoration of heritage buildings and documentation of records of heritage buildings.
No local authority will be allowed to take steps for identification, preservation, conservation or restoration of heritage buildings not consistent with the determination or advice of the Commission.
Even though the Bill talks of the government and local authorities having to accept and implement the advice of the commission, the government, in the public interest, can call for and examine, on its own, any case of advice rendered by the commission. The government’s decision will be final and binding.
An official said some aspects of the Bill have been drawn from the West Bengal Heritage Commission Act, 2001. The official added that one of the objectives of the proposed commission was to help authorities plan development in heritage towns such as Kancheepuram.
Source : http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/tamil-nadu/article3419255.ece?homepage=true
Power shutdown in chennai for 16th May 2012
May 15th
Power shutdown in chennai for 16th May 2012
PERAMBUR EAST AREA: Paper Mills road, Carpenter st, TNP 1 to 5th st, Gobal Reddy colony, Teeds garden 1 to 7th st, Bandar garden st, Siruvallur road, Rangasamy road, Foxen st, Market st, Beset road, Thanthondriamman koil st, Mohamadian st, Sabapathy st, Madurai samy madam st, Kennedy Square st, T.V.K.nagar, 70’ feet road, Periyar nagar, SRP koil st, Jaganathan st, Palani Andavar st, Madhavaram high road, Anandavelu st, Thulasingam st, Vadivel st, Bharathi road.
CHINTADRIPET AREA: The Hindu, Mount road, Telephone Exchange, East cooum river road, Lafond st, Singanna chetty st, Venkatesa gramani st, West Cooum riad, Padavattamman koil st, Bazaar st, Lazer church st,Egmore court, entire Pudupet area, haris road, Eye hospital, veerabathran st, Velayudha chetty st, Navalur nagar, 11 KV Railway HT, Simpson HT Annasalai, Athipattan st, Gymkhana HT , Garrison Engineer HT , Pallavan salai, PATC HT,Sm Nagar, Pallavan nagar, Gandhi nagar, Annasalai, Narasingapuram, LG Road, ,Arunchala naicken st, Kalavaichetty st, Nyniappan st, Agraharam st, ulagappa maistry st, samy pandaram st, dharmaraja st, washerman st, sunguvar agraharam st, singanna chetty stm, rajagopal st, old Bungalow st, New Bunglow st.
SEMBIUM AREA: Muthatamil nagar 1,4,5,6th block, T.H.road, Moolakadai, Teachers colony, Madhavaram high road, Ramana nagar, MPM st, State Bank colony, Madurai swamy madam, Jambuli st, RV nagar, Anna salai (Kodungaiyur), Kamarajar salai, Entire Kattabomman st, GNT road, Gandhi nagar, Venkateswara nagar Part I & II, Gopalapuram, Kolathur, St.Mary road, KKR avenue, Pallavan salai, Ponnusamy nagar, Thiru-Vi-Ka nagar, SRB kovil st, Pallavan st, Apparoa garden, Kamarajar nagar, Periyar nagar, Gowthama puram, Eithiraj salai, Part of Lakshmiamman nagar, SA colony, Sivashankaran st, Indira nagar west, Erukanchery, Mitice colony, Fancin colony, Kannaberan koil st, Alex nagar colony, Vadithiyar Thottam, Leather Estate, Karkanji colony, Sathiyavani Muthu nagar, Karunanithi nagar, BB road, P.H.road, Srinivasa nagar, Nataraj nagar, 200 feet ring road, Vinaiyahapuram, Paper Mills road, Bandar garden, Aagaram, Jawahar nagar, Market st, Thiruvallur main road, Foxen st, M.H.road, Harbour colony, Venkateshwara nagar, Venkateshwara colony, Milk colony road, Rizwan road, Arul Nagar, Narayanasamy garden, Rekha nagar, Solaiamman koil, Koyathopu, Ambika nagar, Sastiri nagar, MH road, Annai Sathya nagar, Chandrababu colony, Part of GNT road, Periyar nagar, Thanigachalam nagar,Kolathur area, Thirupathi nagar, Balaji nagar, United colony, Thirumalai nagar, Nermai nagar, Valarmathi nagar, Kumaran nagar,Lakshmipuram, Vinagapuram, Muthamil Nagar,1 to 5 & 7th Block, Teachers Colony, Gandhi nagar, TH road.
MADHAVARAM AREA: Seetha Pathi st, Swamy nagar, Thattankulam road, Kilpan nagar, Sarangapani nagar, Shanmuga Sundaram nagar, MRH road, Lotur colony, Ponniamman Medu, Sastri nagar, Thanika Chalam nagar, VOC st, Karpagam nagar, Varadharajan nagar, Chellaiyah nagar, Munusamy nagar, Sree Ram salai, Vasantham garden, Prakash nagar, Vithya nagar, Gandhi nagar, Devaki nagar, Megestic colony, Srinivasa nagar, CMDA Natraj nagar, Inner Ring road, Redhills road, Lakshmipuram, Vinayakapuram.
PERIYAR NAGAR AREA: GKM colony, Annai Anjugam nagar, Chitharanjan colony, Venkatraman salai, Periyar nagar, Jaganathan salai, SRP colony, Paper Mills road, Jawahar nagar, KC garden, SRP koil st North & South, Lakshman East & West, 70 Feet road, Vetri nagar, Velan nagar, Kuppusamy st, Sivaprakasam st, Kolathur, Poombuhar nagar, Vasantham nagar, Arjun nagar, Amaraj st, Ambedkar nagar, Thenpalani nagar, Dhanrajpuram, Subramaniya puram, Venkateswara nagar, Lakshmi nagar, Kannagi nagar, Jayaram nagar, Sivasakthi nagar, RH road T.nagar colony, Sakthivel nagar, Dhakshnamurthy nagar, Sakthi st and allied Kolathur area, Lakshmipuram, Teacher’s colony, Kadaba road, Sarathi nagar, Villivakkam road, Ganaesh nagar, Harbour colony, Selvaraj nagar, Janaki Ram Reddy colony, Nethaji nagar, Srinivasan nagar, RH road, V.V.nagar, GKM colony Anjugam nagar 1 to 12th st, Samthriya colony 1 to 5th st, Girija nagar East, Vetrivel nagar, Sarojini nagar, M.N.nagar, Kizhagumada Veethi, Bajanai koil st, Sannathi st, Palli salai, Gangaiamman koil st, K.S.nagar, Sarathy nagar, Haridoss st, Shanthi nagar, Ganesh nagar, Janaki Ram Reddy colony, Nethaji nagar, Srinivasan nagar, RH road, V.V.nagar, Rajaji nagar. COLLEGE ROAD AREA : Anderson road, Subba Rao avenue 1 to 3rd st, College road, Pycrafts garden, Haddows road, Pycrafts garden road, Greams road, Shafi Mohammed road, 109, 110 Nungambakkam high road, Rutland gate, D.P.J.complex, College lane, Text Book Society, Moors road, Model School road, Wallex garden, K.N.K.road, Part of Model School road, Partheon road & lane.
T.H.ROAD AREA: T.H.road, G.A.road, Solaiappan st, Sanjeevirayan koil st, Kappal Polu st, Thandavaraya Mudali st, Balu Mudali st, V.P.koil st, Ramanuja Iyer st, R.K.nagar, Tondiarpet, Old Washermenpet, Avathana Ramasamy st, Subburayalu st, Kothandaraman st, Sri Rangammal st.
ENNORE AREA: Ennore, Kathivakkam, Ernavoor, EHT Consumers.
PANJETTY AREA: Panjetty, Alinjivakkam, Thatchoor, Irulipattu, Peravellore, Ponneri, Keelmeni, Chennivakkam, Amoor, Neduvaramvakkam, Chathiram, Andarkuppam.
NAPPALAYAM AREA: Manali New Town, SIDCO Indl. Estate, Vichoor, Periya Echanguhi, Ponniamman nagar, Ganapathy nagar, Vichoor road, Nappalayam, Vellivayalchavadi, Kondakkarai, Kuruvimedu.
NOLAMBUR AREA: Nolambur, NNS, HIG, MIG, Adayalampet, Gangaiamman nagar, Eri Scheme, Panneer nagar, Kongu nagar, Mohan Ram nagar, Mugappair / West Block 1 to 8, Jeswanth nagar, Reddy Palayam, AIBE nagar, Vellalar st, Ponniamman nagar, Keel Ayanambakkam, Rajen kuppam.
Note: The above details are acquired from TNEB website and speakchennai.com does not guarantee for the correctness of information provided
Top performers of Indian Premier League
May 14th
|
Rank
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Batsmen*
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Points
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Bowlers**
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Points
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||
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1
|
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62.0
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50.1
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||
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2
|
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49.4
|
|
34.1
|
||
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3
|
|
36.0
|
|
33.3
|
||
|
4
|
|
35.4
|
|
32.0
|
||
|
5
|
|
33.8
|
|
30.7
|
||
|
6
|
|
31.9
|
|
30.1
|
||
|
7
|
|
31.7
|
|
28.9
|
||
|
8
|
|
31.2
|
|
28.9
|
||
|
9
|
|
30.1
|
|
28.4
|
||
|
10
|
|
28.7
|
|
27.3
|
||
|
Methodology
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|
What’s the basis for these rankings? We assigned batting and bowling points to each player based on his performance. We then totalled up the points per match for each player for the 2010, 2011 and 2012 seasons giving a 50% weightage to the current season, 30% to the 2011 season and 20% to 2010. The weighted average points per match are the points we present and they are the basis for the rankings. A minimum of five matches in 2012 is taken as cutoff.The batting points were worked out on the principle that T20 is not only about how much you score, but also how fast you get the runs. We found that the average strike rate for all batsmen in the IPL hovers at around 120. The number of batting points each player got was the runs scored by him multiplied by his strike rate and divided by the average strike rate of 120. Thus, a batsman scoring at the average strike rate of 120 gets as many points as the runs he has scored. Faster scorers will get more points than they have runs, while relatively slow scorers will have fewer points than runs.*In brief: Batsmen ranking points based on runs scored and strike rate over last three seasons including current one. Weight highest for current season declining as we go back. Minimum 5 matches in current season for ranking.The bowling points were based on the principle that economy and wicket taking are both important. Again, since the average economy rate of all bowlers tends to be around 7.5 runs per over, this was taken as par. Any bowler going at this rate got no economy points. Those conceding fewer runs per over got as many points as the runs they notionally saved. For instance, if a bowler had bowled 20 overs in the tournament at 5.5 runs per over, he would have saved 40 runs in all – 20 multiplied by 7.5 minus 5.5. Of course, those with a higher economy rate were treated as having conceded additional runs and hence earned as many negative points. As for the wicket-taking points, we just multiplied the number of wickets taken by 25. The total of a player’s bowling points then was the sum of his economy and wicket-taking points.
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Nasa to put man on asteroid by 2020s
May 14th
Astronauts Being Trained For Mission To Look For Minerals, Get Info On How To Destroy It
WASHINGTON: Nasa is reportedly training a team of astronauts for a mission to land on an asteroid by the end of the next decade.
The US space agency is training the astronauts to land on an asteroid to explore its surface, search for minerals and even learn the skills they may need to destroy it should one pose a threat to the Earth, ‘The Daily Telegraph’ reported.
Nasa plans to send the team to make contact with an asteroid up to three million miles away by the late 2020s; it would take them far beyond the current limit of the Moon, which is 239,000 miles from Earth.
Travelling at around 50,000 miles per hour around the Sun with almost non-existent gravity due to their small size, landing safely on these space rocks will present a significant challenge.
But, Major Tim Peake, a British astronaut with the European Space Agency, who is also being trained for the asteroid mission, said: “With the technology we have available and are developing today, an asteroid mission of up to a year is definitely achievable .” He added: “Asteroids are interesting on a number of different levels. Nasa is focused on the science you can achieve as asteroids are essentially a historical record of billions of years of universe where we can take samples from.
“These objects are also coming extremely close to Earth all the time, but we rarely hear about it. With enough warning we would probably send a robotic mission to deflect an asteroid, but if something is spotted late… we may have to look at manned missions to deflect it.
“That is when the skills we are learning about how to work on an asteroid could be useful.”
In fact, Nasa hopes to launch an unmanned spacecraft that will use a robotic arm to collect samples from an asteroid by 2016 before sending a manned mission by the late 2020s. A manned mission will aim to rendezvous with an asteroid up to three million miles from the Earth, taking around a year to make the entire round trip.
The astronauts could stay on the asteroid for up to 30 days. According to Nasa officials, such missions to asteroids could help test technology for future human missions to other planets including Mars. Nasa hopes that such missions will provide new scientific information about the early universe while also providing valuable information for ways of defending Earth from collisions with asteroids.
