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Flood-hit Surat battles filth, epidemics

      Surat: The floodwaters may be receding in Gujarat's Surat district, but residents fear the outbreak of water-borne diseases, a usual feature that follows such natural calamities. With a population of three million, about 80 percent of Surat continues to remain submerged in the aftermath of the floods. A large number of people have been hospitalised, suffering from diseases like malaria and dengue. People complained that garbage in the area was the root cause of diseases, and civic bodies were not paying any heed to their pleas. "Last year, people suffered from plague after the rains. Even this year, we fear such a deadly outbreak and therefore, we are contemplating leaving Surat. Even the work by civic authorities is very slow," said Jignesh, a resident. Surat's health authorities are already battling an outbreak of leptospirosis, a bacterial illness passed on by the urine of infected animals in water, soil or vegetation after rains. Officials said garbage was being removed as fast as possible to cut out health hazards. "Thousand tonnes of solid waste are being removed daily. In the last 24 hours three thousand tonnes of solid waste have been removed. We are working on a war footing," State Urban Development Minister I.K. Jadeja said here on Monday. Authorities said at least 45 people were dead in the state, adding that 400 people were still unaccounted for. They feared that hundreds of city's slum-dwellers might have been swept out to sea. More than 350 people have died since the start of the annual monsoon in flood-related incidents across the country. While waters have eased in many areas, the respite could be brief with more monsoon rains forecast for some areas.

Two bodies recovered in Tripura  (Go To Top)
by Pinaki Das

       Agartala: Tension gripped Tripura's militant-ridden Dhalai district after two bodies were recovered on Independence Day. The incident occurred in the remote Tuichama village under Ganganagar police station, 140 km southeast from here. Police said that the local tribal who went for jhum (shifting cultivation) found two dead bodies in jhum hut and informed the local police station. At once the officer- in-charge rushed to the spot with enforcement to investigate. According to local source, both the bodies are of tribal youths and are brothers and one of the deceased was a militant collaborator. Superintendant of Police, (Dhalai) Arindam Nath has reached the spot with additional forces and launched a combing operation to nab the group behind the killings. According to local sources, both bodies have identified. The police they were Lamonjoy Reang and his brother Profullajoy Reang, both tribals. Lamonjoy Reang was a surrendered cadre of the banned militant National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) rebel, while Profullajoy Reang was an above ground collaborator.

Security beefed up in Mathura
for Janmashtami (Go To Top)

      Mathura: Independence Day celebrations may have passed on peacefully but security personnel are yet to heave a sigh of relief, as the country will be celebrating Janmashtami festival on Wednesday. Considering the recent terror threats, security has been stepped up in Mathura for the festival, marking birthday of Lord Krishna. In Mathura, about 150 kilometres south of national capital New Delhi, the main Krishna temple has been beautifully decorated as millions of devotees are expected to arrive on Wednesday. A large police force has been deployed to control the huge crowds and to prevent any untoward incident. "Hundreds of thousands of devotees come here, though our force is always on guard, for Janmashtami, extra force has been deployed and extra arrangements have been made. As one can see, barricades have been put up and the area has been divided into three zones. And in all the three zones a lot of force has been deployed." said Sanjay Kumar, Assistant Superintendent of Police, Mathura. Devotees also appeared satisfied with the security arrangements. "There is very good security. Administration has left no stone unturned but even then if an untoward incident takes place, then it would not just be the administration's fault or responsibility but also of every citizens'," said Shailendra Kumar, a devotee. Mathura is believed to be the birthplace of Lord Krishna, one of the most revered Hindu deities who enumerated the Bhagwad Gita. On Janmashtami, devotees keep a day-long fast, which they break at the stroke of midnight, which is considered the time of birth of Krishna. According to Hindu mythology, Krishna is the eighth incarnation of Lord Vishnu, the Preserver and one of the trinities of the Hindu pantheon, the other two being Lord Brahma, the Creator and Lord Shiva, the Destroyer.

Sesame Street bridges 'urban-rural' divide  
by Sudhakar Jagdish

      New Delhi: As the desi version of America's most popular programme for kids Sesame Street today made its premier on Independence Day as "Gali Gali Sim Sim", the characters of the programme Googly, Chamki, Boombah and Anchoo would try to mend the urban-rural divide of the country. The show which premiered at 1 p.m. (IST) here in a satellite television channel Cartoon Network, tried to teach to teach the children a new curriculum including the aspects of 'modern technology. The first episode taught how to make pictures on computer and what is a function of a printer, and all that in a playful and hilarious manner. If the puppets performed rock-n-roll to teach children the alphabets of the Hindi language, Chamki tried to learn counting in Tamil. If there was a video song shown to teach the importance of the hygiene in our daily life through an entertaining way, Chamki also tried hard to make her 'friend' smile, thereby sending the moral that "being happy is good" and taught the various 'emotions' by using a pet dog. "Truly entertaining,"exclaimed Kavita, a mother of the 4 year-old Aryan, after watching the show and expressed hope that within a month her son would turn into a fan of Boombah. "The programme essentially combines the education with a sophisticated entertainment, that had been missing in the television shows in the recent days," added Kavita. Her neighbour was of the opinion that the programme tends to give a pan Indian appeal as the children being shown does not seem to be hailing from the metros alone. The production company Sesame Workshop who along with Turner International and Miditech had tried to infuse the local flavour in it are already airing its different avatars in close to 25-28 countries. "Each one of the Sesame Workshops is customised with local flavours," said Daniel Victor, executive vice-president, International Sesame Workshop. The programme which has a unique name as Gali Gali Sim Sim is known as Zhima Jie in China, Alam Simsim in Egypt, Sippuray Sumsum in Israel, Hikayat Simsim in Palestine and Takalani Sesame in South Africa. This US show which was first telecasted in 1968 has become enjoined in the American culture and went to make its debut in even America's cold war enemy Russia as Ulitsa Sezam. When US President George Bush visited in India in March this year, first lady Laura Bush took out time to shoot with Googly, Chamki, Boombah and Anchoo in a Noida studio. Mrs. Bush has also featured in the American original version Sesame Street.

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