Stubble becomes burning issue in Patna

Nowadays, torching of agriculture fields to clear crop stubble is happening near Patna also," the chief minister told The Telegraph recently. "We don't know who has publicised this practice among the farmers here, but it could have an adverse affect on the pollution levels in the state capital. I have asked district magistrates to curb the practice." A World Health Organisation (WHO) list published earlier this year ranked Patna as the sixth-most polluted city in the world. In recent days, the air quality index (AQI) on the state capital has been faring in the "very poor" band (301-400) with PM2.5 - particulate matter of less than 2.5 microns thickness in size, considered the most potent pollutant threat to human beings - being the major pollutant.On Sunday, the AQI for Patna worsened to 419 and jumped to the "severe" band, which signals that pollution levels could affect healthy people and seriously impact those with existing diseases. The AQI for New Delhi on Sunday was in fact better than Patna at 374.Patna district magistrate (DM) Kumar Ravi acknowledged that incidents of burning crop stubble have been noticed and said he has directed agriculture officers in the district to stop it to curb for safety reasons."The tendency to burn fields has been witnessed at some places in Patna district. It was not popular in these parts previously and seems to have been picked up from the Punjab-Haryana region. People here also seem to be adopting it to save labour cost for clearing the field of stubble," Ravi said.The basic difference between crop cutting in Bihar and Punjab-Haryana-western Uttar Pradesh has been that people in Bihar use the sickle to cut crop, leaving just around four inches of stubble, which gets mixed in the soil when farmers plough their fields or are easily weeded out.Most farmers in north India, on the other hand, use harvesters to cut crops and the machines leave stubble that is around a foot high or at times more, forcing the tillers to torch them. Rohtas DM Pankaj Dixit said the district has a tradition of burning paddy stubble, which seems to have been brought by agricultural labourers returning home from Punjab and Haryana."We have conducted publicity campaigns to curb the practice and have also warned that legal action will be taken against people indulging in it," Pankaj said.He added that it was difficult to pinpoint who has torched which field first, because by the time government officials reach the spot the fire usually spreads to several plots and none of the local people name the person who lit his field first. Dailyhunthttps://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/eggyrotens

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Hockey World Cup 2018, India vs Netherlands: Same blueprint but poles apart

In contrast, India's struggles are more real. They haven't come within sniffing distance of a medal. In that context, Thursday's quarterfinal, one can argue, is their best chance to end the 43-year wait to reach the last four of the World Cup. It's fitting in a way that India should meet Netherlands in this match of extreme significance. In the decades of decline, the Dutch have been a benchmark for Indian hockey. They've looked up to the Netherlands at all times. Sometimes grudgingly, like the constant comparisons with abundant infrastructure. At times, for inspiration - be it tactical or philosophical. India and Netherlands have traditionally played similar styles - for both, playing fast, entertaining hockey is sacrosanct. The difference has been that the Dutch do that with a lot of precision and structure, which makes them a tough team to crack while India were stuck in the rut of chaotic, often individualistic, style. It took two-and-a-half Dutchmen to bring structure to Indian hockey. Roelant Oltmans, who was the coach when Netherlands last won the World Cup in 1998, retained India's distinct style but made the players better by teaching them to operate as unit. Paul van Ass taught them tactics while Sjoerd Marijne, in his short stint, tried to make them better thinkers on field. One thing that all three were successful in doing was changing India's habit of holding on to the ball unnecessarily and make them play 'give-and-go' hockey. Ironical as it may sound, but it is the Dutch influence on Indian hockey that gives this team the confidence of beating Netherlands in Thursday's quarterfinal. Why this is India's most important game in recent times Five years of preparation, five years of International Hockey Federation's largesse and a perennial state of chaos later, it has come down to just one match. The World Cup quarterfinal against the Netherlands on Thursday can have a huge bearing on the sport's immediate and long-term future in the country. If India beat the Dutch, it will be the first time since 1975 that the team will reach the semifinals of a World Cup. That has the potential to revive the sport's dipping fortunes in the country. Despite making progress in recent years, hockey has once again started to lose commercial appeal, which was one of the reasons why the Hockey India League had to be shelved. A win on Thursday can not only reinvigorate the sponsors, it can also inject some much-needed optimism in the sport after decades of cynicism. In case of a defeat, though, it won't be surprising if Hockey India once again puts the coach's head on the chopping block. The sport may not die, but it will continue to exist in oblivion. Dutch have an edge Four years ago, you wouldn't have given India the slightest chance in games like these. Make no mistake, Netherlands still hold an edge. But no one is writing India off, especially the Dutch media, who are present here in considerable numbers hoping that, this time, they can make it all the way. "60-40, in India's favour," is their call. What has changed? Their ability to adapt, especially in this World Cup. In the three matches India have played, they have been challenged with three very different match scenarios and the players have shown remarkable presence of mind to deal with it. In the first match, South Africa - after they were pummeled in the first quarter - crowded the midfield in the second and choked India for space. The home side took a couple of minutes to understand what had changed and responded by putting extra men forward themselves, thus negating South Africa's advantage. When Canada slowed down the pace and frustrated India, the players waited patiently and changed the gears in the final quarter, when they scored four goals in the space of 11 minutes to seal the top spot in the group. But a match where India were really impressive, albeit a little sloppy at the end, was against Belgium. In some ways, Belgium are a side similar to Netherlands, in that they too like to play fast and press high. In a highly-tactical battle, India held their own after they adopted a direct, aerial ball strategy to which Belgium had no answer. In the last three days, India have used a lot of high balls in their training. They have combined it with crosses from inside the 18-yard circle with strikers looking for deflections from the posts. If this pattern is implemented on field, it once again promises to be an epic clash. Netherlands like to play with a high tempo and are at their best when they are allowed to make short, quick passes. Their players can inter-change positions and formations but still remain as dangerous. An example of this is that at the 2014 World Cup in The Hague, when they reached the final, their talisman Jeroen Hertzberger played in the midfield while Billy Baker, Seve van Ass and Vincent Verga flooded the forward line. In Bhubaneswar, the roles have been reversed - Hertzberger plays as a forward while the other three are in the midfield. Just how effective has the combination been can be guessed from the fact that Netherlands have raided their opponents' 'D' once every two minutes and have scored most number of goals (18). This, when they have been accused of being rusty. Pakistan succeeded in frustrating them by slowing down the pace of the game, but India coach Harendra Singh dismissed that idea. "We will play by our rules," he said on the match eve. If playing by their rules gets India past the finish line, they will be in a World Cup semifinal for the first time since 1975. If that happens, India will celebrate their sojourn as a success. For Holland, reaching the semifinals is a habit. Anything less than gold will be a failed campaign. These are two countries with same tradition and style. But different definitions for success. Dailyhunthttps://www.fanfiction.net/u/11455993/

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India's chance to end 43-year wait

And if Manpreet Singh and his men get past the Dutch on Thursday, they will not only break a jinx but also rewrite history and ink their names in the one of the golden chapters of the Indian hockey.Going by present form and rankings, there is hardly anything to differentiate between the two sides. While Netherlands are placed fourth in the current world rankings, India are a rung below in the fifth position.The last time India and Netherlands faced each in the Champions Trophy earlier this, the match had ended in a 1-1 draw. The over-all head-to-head record belongs to Netherlands. In the 105 games played between the two sides so far, India have won 33, lost 48 while the rest ended in draws. However, the two sides have shared the spoils since 2013.India and Netherlands have faced each other nine times since 2013, winning four apiece while one game finished in a draw. And for India captain Manpreet Singh past results hold significance. "The past results matter a lot because Netherlands have a better result against us. But, we have played well against them recently. We have also beaten them, drew against them at the Champions Trophy. Indian hockey has improved a lot. The match will be tough and whichever team plays better will win," Manpreet said.The duel is expected to be a fast-paced, attacking encounter with both the teams heavily relying on their goal scoring abilities to come out winners. Both India and Netherlands have scored heavily in the poll stages.While India have scored 12 goals and conceded three, the Dutch have pumped in 18 goals and conceded five. In the likes of captain Billy Bakker, Seve van Ass, Jeroen Hertzberger, Mirco Pruijser, Robbert Kemperman, Thiery Brinkman, the Dutch have got plenty of experience in the midfield and its strike force.It will be a real test for the Indian defence.The Indians too would be relying on their strikers - Mandeep Singh, Simranjeet Singh, Lalit Upadhyay and Akashdeep Singh - to continue their good work.With the Kalinga Stadium expected to be packed to its full capacity, there will also be tremendous pressure on the Indian team and the Dutch will be more than happy to exploit any mistake. "This will be not be the first time. We have played in front of big crows in pool games and in the past as well. We are used to playing in front of big crowds," Netherlands coach Max Caldas said."We always try to play in our own pace, whether it is fast or slow. We like to dictate. We are not concerned about India because we can't influence what India will do." Dailyhunthttp://www.authorstream.com/bizzareedass/

Centre to start 4-day Zika outbreak investigation training programme soon

Results of 16 samples sent for testing on Friday are awaited. 'Unlike in Rajasthan, where cases were picked up in routine surveillance and intensified measures put in place immediately after the first case, things got delayed in MP as cases did not show up in routine surveillance,' said an official from the Union health ministry, requesting anonymity. Bhopal, Vidisha and Sehore districts have reported 122 cases, with Sagar, Raisen and Hoshangabad districts reporting two cases each. An 18-year-old man and a 23-year-old woman who died during the corresponding period tested positive for zika, but their deaths were not documented as zika deaths as they had other more deadly infections and diseases. The man also suffered from Japanese encephalitis and the woman had uncontrolled diabetes and sepsis (severe blood infection) The state health department officials said routine surveillance had been going on since June for all vector-borne diseases, including malaria and dengue. 'We didn't intensify surveillance to begin house-to-house surveys and mass testing for zika because no cases showed up in routine tracking,' says Dr Ajay Baroniya, joint director, state health department. There were no delays at the state level, he said. 'During an outbreak situation, the intensified drive starts on the directive of the Centre. The central team reached Bhopal on October 30 and asked us to intensify our surveillance and we immediately did so on November 1. If they had directed us earlier, we would have started accordingly,' said Baroniya. Manoj Jhalani, mission director, National Health Mission, who visited the state on Tuesday, said, 'The teams should have got active when three cases were reported from different places. There should be better coordination among agencies, such as health, civic and urban development.' At times a week is all that's needed for vector-borne diseases to spread, say experts. 'Though it also depends on population density, vector-control measures should start from the detection of the very first case for maximum benefit. Since zika is a new infection, we need to see how the virus behaves,' said Dr Neena Valecha, director, National Institute of Malaria Research. Dr Sarman Singh, director, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Bhopal, said, 'Luckily for us, it isn't a virulent virus, at least not the strain that is in circulation. It will die down on its own, especially with drop in temperature. Next two-three weeks are critical.' Dailyhunthttps://itsmyurls.com/zincovitzenz

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Only one toilet per house in urban areas

They were requested to use network bathrooms," he said. The department has completed building 3.12 lakh lavatories of the targeted 3.5 lakh (except 44,000 that was rejected). "The last bathrooms can be built by using March 2019,'' Somesh stated. There are 279 Urban Local Bodies in Karnataka, of which a hundred and seventy had been declared open defecation loose. The final ULBs were self-declared ODF and that they handed a decision in a council meeting. Dailyhunt https://my.desktopnexus.com/jeevajhonee/

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This river cruise from Kolkata to Dhaka via Sunderbans promises a breathtaking view

Abdus Samsah, Bangladesh delivery secretary become quoted in the file announcing that personal gamers could be allowed to perform river cruise among the 2 countries, as a way to cover about a distance of one,539 km. Moreover, both the nations also agreed to allow non-public operators to run coastal cruise from Chennai to Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh. As in line with the report, an respectable from the Shipping Ministry informed that the river direction passes via Sunderbans in addition to other scenic regions, thereby making it a charming direction to choose. "Thus, the river cruise adventure will be a life-time experience". He introduced. Kolkata-based totally Heritage Cruise which currently operates the Ganga Voyager has proposed to run the first vessel on the river course within the remaining week of March, subsequent 12 months. Dailyhunt http://www.feedbooks.com/user/4750008/profile

Items of everyday use could push up indoor pollution, say studies

While one observe changed into performed by way of a team of researchers from the CSIR-Central Road Research Institute (CSIR-CRRI) of their personal places of work, some other look at was finished via the Indian Pollution Control Association (IPCA), a Delhi-based studies corporation in 13 homes across Delhi, such as corporate workplaces, a multiplex, authorities buildings and houses. The CRRI examine changed into published in Current Science journal on November 10 with records of 2014 summer time. The IPCA study changed into conducted among January and September 2018. 'The concentrations of PM1, PM2.5 and volatile natural compounds (VOCs) have been located to be higher internal than outdoor. While concentrations of PM1 and PM2.Five had been almost double in indoor air than outside, the attention of VOCs became even higher. VOCs acquire more whilst air conditioners are used because the ventilation is less,' said Manisha Gaur, one of the authors of the take a look at and a studies student at CRRI. Experts stated that while any shape of combustion which includes smoking, or burning an incense stick or mosquito coil, should push up degrees of finer particulate topics, the awareness of VOCs shoot up due to use of room fresheners, deodorants, paints, sharpening and cleansing retailers. 'The concentration of VOCs become specifically located to be nearly two instances higher than the secure limits prescribed by way of the World Health Organisation interior company places of work and hospitals. It changed into additionally very high in the indoor air inside multiplexes. In residences, the level of PM2.5 become located to be 137µg/m3, which is extra than two instances above the safe limits of 60µg/m3,' stated Radhan Goyal, deputy director of IPCA. The IPCA study located that another pollutant, referred to as bio-aerosols, was an awful lot better than the permissible limits. It changed into as a minimum 20 instances better in company places of work and 4 times higher in multiplexes. Bio-aerosols contain airborne micro organism, fungi, viruses and their by-products, endotoxins and mycotoxins. 'Indoor air pollutants is particularly better because of unsuitable ventilation. In more than 90% of the air-conditioned buildings, it's far the stale indoor air that's circulated in preference to allowing fresh outdoor air to are available, as it calls for intake of greater strength. Outside pollution additionally gushes in via leakages in door and windows because of difference in air pressure. The pollutants tends to be higher closer to the corners of the room. Secondly wall-to-wall carpets are recognized to be sinks of bio-aerosols,' said Mukesh Khare, Mukesh Khare, a professor of environmental engineering at IIT-Delhi Experts said that those studies are in music with several different research finished the world over and also via the Central Pollution Control Board. 'Indoor pollution regularly tends to be higher due to poor air flow, cooler temperature and indoor activities, which consist of smoking and burning of coils and incense sticks. VOCs, lots of that are carcinogenic, tend to transport towards cooler temperatures. The wind inside a room is likewise stagnant as compared to out of doors. Hence pollutants tends to shoot up,' said T K Joshi, environmental health guide to the union environment and forest ministry. He stated a previous study completed by using the CPCB a few years ago had additionally determined that indoor pollution in apartments (houses) was higher than out of doors pollution. 'It is a fable that indoor air is less polluted that out of doors air and which you are safe whence you enter domestic or office. In truth indoor air in poorly ventilated rooms gets greater polluted, as the air gets trapped interior and retain to circulate,' said Khare. Dailyhunt https://6escortslondon.com/author/greekfranchise/

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