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Compensation for 65 dead pilgrims of Dewas tragedy

     Dharaji (MP): The state government on Tuesday announced compensation for 65 Hindu pilgrims who drowned in a river after dam upstream released water for power generation. The incident occurred early on Saturday in Dharaji village in Dewas district, about 200 km west of Bhopal, where about 300,000 pilgrims had gathered to take bath in the Narmada river. The dead bodies of the 65 bodies were cremated on the banks of the river. Officials said pilgrims were caught up in the surging waters while they were taking a bath. Television footage showed several bodies covered with white cloth lying on the river bank and rescuers in a motorised boat trying to pick up a dead man floating spread-eagled in the water. One environmental group, Narmada Bachao Andolan, said in a statement that 150 people had been swept away and were either dead or missing. State authorities said the tragedy occurred after the gates of the Indira Sagar Dam, about 100 km upstream of Dharaji, were opened without warning. Indira Sagar is part of the controversial Narmada Valley project, one of the biggest dam projects in the country. When finished, a series of dams will generate electricity and provide water to millions of people.

     Indira Sagar Project is a multipurpose project will have the largest storage capacity in the country. It will have an installed capacity of 1000 MW and annual irrigation of 2.65 Lakh Ha. on a CCA of 1.23 Lakh Ha. The project provides regulated releases of 8.12 MAF to Gujrat ex-Maheshwar project after power generation at down stream projects viz., Omkareshwar and Maheshwar projects in Madhya Pradesh. Indira Sagar Project is the key project on Narmada river providing excellent storage site. The Dam is proposed on the main river near village Narmadanagar of Punasa Block in the District. Omkareshwar and Maheshwar projects are proposed in the downstream to utilize the regulated releases of Indira Sagar project of irrigation and power generation. Hence, the cascade of Indira Sagar, Omkareshwar and Maheshwar projects, together, are known as "Narmada Sagar Complex". The total drainage area at the proposed dam site of Indira Sagar Project is 61642 Sq. Kms. The main dam is located on quartzite's of reddish colour and with small interbedding of silt stone of purple colour belonging to Vindhyans (Super Group). The power house is located on the stable right bank in deep pit which is geologically less disturbed. The project command area encompasses the Narmada Sone lineament. The command area is mostly composed of basaltic lava flows. These flows are designated as deccan traps. The thickness of lava flows ranges from 6.5 m to 30 m with presence of vesicular and amydaloidal in basaltic flow with appreciable weathering on top. Detailed seismological studies have been got done and based on the recommendation of the Dam Review Panel, detailed designs for the dam have been prepared by the Central Water Commission. A network for ten seismological stations is proposed to be established through Indian Meteorological Department covering the area of the project of Narmada Sagar Complex.

China says it will eventually resolve all border disputes (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: China says will eventually resolve border disputes with India to continue currency reform. India and China have taken steps to eventually resolve all boundary disputes, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on said Tuesday (April 12). Addressing reporters at the conclusion of his four-day trip to India Wen said a decades-old row over the status of Sikkim, a part of India but has long been disputed by Beijing, has been resolved. Sikkim is no longer a problem in China-India relationship. This is also the agreement shared by the leaders of both the countries," Wen said. Wen added that China was open to bipolar trade with New Delhi to serve the interest of the two-most populous nations of the world. "This bipolar trade the Chinese government is planning and developing the polar trade market from the Chinese side and we hope that the two sides will make earnest efforts at the early date to further develop the polar trade cooperation and this will certainly serve the interest of the people living in the border areas between the two countries. I think China has taken the host of measures to maintain stability in the border areas, including the measures we have taken to help eventually resolve the boundary disputes between our two countries which is led over from the past," Wen added.

     The announcement came a day after Wen and his Indian counterpart, Manmohan Singh, agreed on the roadmap to settle the border dispute. Until now, China had never officially recognised India's 1975 annexation of Sikkim, once an independent princely kingdom. The row over their 3,500-km (2,200-mile) border through the Himalayas, from Kashmir in the west to near Myanmar in the east, has been a thorn in relations between the world's two most populous nations and led to a short war in 1962. Relations between the nuclear powers have been steadily if slowly improving, and their rapid emergence as economic superpowers forms a strong foundation for greater cooperation. China also agreed to back India's bid for a U.N. Security Council seat and Wen urged greater cooperation between the two countries at multilateral bodies such as the World Trade Organisation. "China reiterates that we attach great importance to the important role of India in the international affairs. India is a very populous, developing country and is also very important developing country," he said. Despite strong economic growth, a rapidly growing -- and spending -- middle class, and economic liberalisation, albeit slow, India has failed to attract the same level of foreign investment as China and lags far behind.

     The Chinese leader's first stop in India was the southern high- tech capital of Bangalore, home to such world-leading information technology firms as Infosys Technologies and Wipro and the flagship of India's technology aspirations. Wen urged the two countries to make use of their complementary IT skills -- China's hardware expertise and India's in software -- to make the 21st Century the "Asian century of the IT industry". Wen said Beijing would continue its exchange rate programme to make the currency more responsive to the market. "We'll continue to move ahead with our exchange rate formation mechanism reform in order to make the exchange rate of our currency more responsive to the market trends. We need to take into account the actual conditions of China and move towards the goal of establishing a market-based,managed floating exchange rate," he said. While resisting foreign pressure to revalue, China has pledged to make the Yuan more flexible eventually. The two energy-hungry nations also agreed to increase cooperation in the race for stakes in foreign oil and gas projects. India also has concerns about Chinese support for Pakistan's missile technology, but officials said the subject was not raised in talks between Singh and Wen. Held back by years of suspicion, bilateral trade was less than 3 billion dollars in 2000 but is seen reaching 30 billion dollars by 2010 and Wen and Singh agreed to aim for at least 20 billion dollars by 2008.

Tickets for Kanpur ODI sold out (Go To Top)

     Kanpur: Cricket fans in Kanpur are complaining about the non-availability of tickets for the fifth one -day international to be played between India and Pakistan at the Green Park Stadium here on April 15. Although the mercury here touched 40 degrees centigrade, hundreds of cricket lovers thronged different branches of Central Bank to get match tickets. However, they remained empty-handed because tickets for the match had already been sold out for the day and therefore they were unable to issue more tickets for the match. Every person standing in queue was given a token and only token holders were allowed inside the bank premises in batches. Counters were designated for different denominations. Each token holder was issued two tickets. But, within a few hours the organisers closed the counters, saying the 2000 tickets were sold out. Amarender Singh, an irate ticket seeker, said he was desperate to see Pakistani and Indian cricket superstars in action but could not get the ticket. "I've been in queue since early morning to get a ticket but now it seem that I have just wasted my time and energy, the organisers say that all the tickets are sold out," said Singh. Koshal Mishra, another local inhabitant struggling to find a ticket to see the match, said with dismay that besides being holder of a identity card he didn't get a single ticket. "I was told that those who hold an identity card would be given tickets, but after standing long hours under the scorching sun I failed to get a ticket," said Mishra. However, to avoid any untoward incident or black marketing of tickets, the district administration has deployed more police and Rapid Action Force personnel in the city. India has already won two matches, while Pakistan has got one victory in the present series.

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