Chennai Egmore Station turns century

The Egmore Station turned 100 years old on June 11, 2008. It was on this day, in 1908, that a new station building was opened, and it was designed by Henry Irwing, CIE, and the architect was E.C. Bird. It was only after the formation of the Southern Railway in April 14, 1951, that it became a major meter-gauge terminal and once called the “Gateway to the South”. It is said that the air about Egmore was remarkably different when compared to the most famous Madras Central Railway Station.

In Egmore, you knew that you were entering a South Indian station, and taking a train down South. Central railway station, in contrast, was more cosmopolitan. The Egmore station building has an Indo-Saracenic architectural style, especially seen near the ticketing counter. When Trichy was the headquarters of the South Indian Railway, Egmore was almost a Madras terminus. It was also one of the few lines where a passenger changed from steam engine or diesel, to electric. Today, Egmore links quite a bit of South and East India. The main platforms are 4, 5 6, 7, out of a total of 11. On the platform looking west, the ironworks are the unique feature. The pillars are reminiscent of the British era and still bear the name of the company.

Egmore was one of only two stations to have the facility of cars driving onto the platform and the other being Howrah. But this was closed after the advent of broad gauge. Inside the station is a foot over bridge that connects platform 4 with the rest of the platforms. It is one of the oldest surviving feet over bridges in the Southern Railway. The huge British-made clock on platform 4 still works and shows the time correctly … an indication of how Egmore still ticks along efficiently for its passengers.

The Egmore station was probably the only one of its kind that had meter-gauge electric locomotives made in Japan. It was specially made for the Madras Egmore-Villupuram line, and started to work on August 14, 1965. Another famous train was the Madras Egmore-Dhanushkodi Boat Mail. The service stopped after a cyclone destroyed the line at Dhanushkodi, in 1964. There was also an entry saying in the South Indian Railway War Diaries (1942) that the SIR had agreed to overhaul Royal Air Force aircraft.

Geriatric ward

Now just humans, even elephants need to be taken care of in their old age. Realizing this, the Kerala’s state forest department is all set to launch a home for the old pachyderms near the Neyyar dam, on 100 hectares. This is the first old age home for captive elephants in the country and the government also decided on the project following frequent reports of ill-treatment of sick elephants. Each elephant will be allotted 50 cents, with a trench around the plot, so that they can retire peacefully.

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The first phase will be ready in the next two months. The project when completed will house 30 elephants. When completed the centre will see elephants freely moving around without chains.

A paper making unit using elephant dung is also being planned at the elephant rehabilitation centre (ERC). Yes, that is possible and such units are already in operation in Thailand and Sri Lanka. Paper manufactured from elephant dung and also fancy moulds could be novelties.

At present there are three such centres in the US and one is coming up in Spain. The initiative of the state government is commendable, but a lot of caution has to be exercised.

According to reports, Kerala has a population of around 900 captive elephants. The famed Sree Krishna Temple at Guruvayoor owns the largest herd of 65.

Raining fish

Residents of Kandanassery village in Kerala had a shock and quite surprise when the raindrops that struck them started wriggling and jumping about. A closer look showed that it was raining fish! Those who experienced it collected some as evidence and kept them in a water filled bucket and more the proof was on the way, as vehicles that drove on the roads during the rain crushed some fish. The hubbub died down as scientists provided an explanation for the phenomenon, that when convective clouds are formed, it is possible that tiny aquatic organisms get lifted to the atmosphere. They can survive suspended in the clouds so long as the clouds have moisture content. The type of fish that came down from the sky was the same as commonly found in ponds and canals in the area. Talk about the one that got away.

And to mention some times back, a few places in the state had received red colored rain.

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India as a destination for WAP

India is still in Intel’s good books though the microchip giant recently deferred a plan to set up a manufacturing base here. Intel has chosen India as a destination for its World Ahead Programme, which aims to tap the power of technology curriculum and teachers to improve education in developing countries. The WAP, recently launched in India, offers a package that promises to revolutionize the rural areas.

Intel has signed up with Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS) to take PC accessibility and education to the villages. IL&FS is the programme management agency for the Common Service Centre scheme, a public-private partnership that complements department of information technology’s National e-Governance Plan.

Under the tie-up, Intel will work with IL&FS to extend capacity building, ecosystem enabling and technology support to over 1 lakh ICT-enabled CSC to reach out to over 6.5 lakh villages. This will provide access connectivity, education and content under the WAP to rural India. Apart this, Intel will play adviser for implementation of a wireless rural broadband program.

Also, under the WAP, Intel plans to extend wide access to PCs with high-speed internet connections and train one million teachers in effective use of technology in classrooms. For this it had tied up with HCL Infosystems to launch Classmate PCs’ in India, a program to promote technology as an aid for classroom coaching. The project, if it comes around well, will be a dream comes true, especially for rural children, who will find their days of scribbling lessons on slates numbered.

To begin with, a few schools in the Delhi and other metros will get Classmate PCs. HCL plans to offer integrated learning solutions to schools and, to meet the end, will tap both its countrywide direct sales network and channel sales network. This Classmate PCs is said to be encourage innovation and enable children to communicate worldwide, developing 21st century skills such as digital literacy, problem solving, critical thinking and collaboration. It can revolutionize classroom learning by taking teacher-student interaction to a higher lever and a large number of schools experimenting with IT to improve education delivery and this adopt the innovative product. Other industry giants such as Wipro and Zenith too were to offer Intel-powered Classmate PCs in the Indian market shortly, with Classmate PC to go long way in increasing the potential of the student, making learning more interactive and opening up new opportunities.

For this chip manufacturing unit, Intel has opted for Vietnam and China over India, though it says India is high on its priority list for setting up production bases in future.

Bike ambulances

In road accidents many lives are lost for want of timely medical help. The delay is often because of traffic snarls that hinder the movement of ambulances. To circumvent this problem, the Centralized Accident and Trauma Services are planning to launch bike ambulances in Delhi. Because of this the victims can soon have more help at hands from Bike Ambulances, the first of its kind in India.

The First Response Vehicles the ambulance service would be run by trained medical staff and an attendant will be deployed across city for 24 hours service after its launch later this year. Pointing out that Delhi roads are increasingly becoming accident-prone, the official said the 'Bike Ambulance' would enhance the speed and the reaction time as compared to the existing four-wheeled CATS ambulances in Delhi.

Too cold

Early monsoon the city hides from headlines. It’s perhaps the first time in four decades that Mumbai’s winter had set teeth chattering. With the mercury decreased to 10 degree Celsius, Mumbai has become a different kind of chill-out zone.

In an unheard of phenomenon, temperatures at the nearby hill station of Mahabaleshwar hit the zero mark, freezing the surface of Venna Lake.

Bird flu in west bengal

A women in West Bengal bursts into tears before handing over her ducks to health workers for culling (photo by Hindu)

On Januar4, West Bengal witnessed the first case of mysterious death of chickens. Though the government was supposed to notify the centre within 24 hours, the information reached Delhi only after 10 days. While the Centre criticized the lackadaisical attitude, Animals Recourse Development Minister Anisur Rehman explained, “We had to make sure this was a case of bird fly. Samples had to be sent to Bhopal as we don’t have any testing facility here.”

The centre said it would send 150 specialist to combat the country’s worst-ever bird fly outbreak. Though Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee claimed that the state had controlled the epidemic, Health Minister Suryakanta Mishra begged to differ. Initially only two districts were affected. By January 23, the H5N1 virus had spread to nine districts.

The 650 culling teams in the state were working overtime, and principal secretary Dilip Chakrabarty said 4.5 lakh chickens had been culling. Interestingly, while Home Secretary Prasad Ranjan Roy said 8.37 lakh birds would be killing in a week, Nadia district magistrate said the state government would cull 1.5 million birds in the next seven days. It appears that the government had failed to sensitize people, and there were reports about sale of poultry in affected regions even on January 23. But the price of chicken has plummeted and the sales at fast food joints and restaurants have also been affected throughout the state.

Panic gripped Kolkata residents as chickens started dying in Howrah which was believed to be safe. Animal Resource Development director Dr Shankar Samanta said the Howrah samples had been sent for analysis. Bird deaths have been reported in East and West Midnapore districts as well, but these were not confirmed. No human death due to the fly was reported anywhere in the state. All the same, sources in the government said 600 people were under observation in Birbhum.