Gurgaon to get environment friendly electric buses

The government of Haryana plans to set up an environment-friendly transportation system in Gurgaon similar to what is available in Poland. The Urban Local Bodies Minister is in Poland and is believed to be planning to procure around 100 buses in the first instance.
These buses are environment friendly and can reduce carbon emissions to a large extent.
This has been reported in thestatesman.com dated 5 July 2017.

In the first phase, these vehicles would operate in Gurgaon, and it is expected that it will reduce traffic congestion and make available a better public transport system to an average of 50,000 people every day.
The firm of Poland has already established plant for manufacturing of CNG buses in Ballabhgarh near Faridabad and will soon begin manufacturing electric buses under the Make in India program.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

New nesting sites for crocodiles in Gahirmatha Wildlife Sanctuary

Patna-Delhi Rajdhani Express to get a new look

Goa expects a flood of tourists


The teacher who taught me Bengali

He taught me to ride a scooter

He was one of the wittiest persons I have ever met


'Spider-Man: Homecoming' brings back the teenage crime fighter

Adele calls a halt to her tour, London will be her final stop

Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk set for release in India in July


Six Afghanistan policemen killed in Taliban attack

Cable car kills seven tourists in Gulmarg

More than 150 killed in explosion of oil tanker in Pakistan

Cow trafficking - Gurgaon man gets 7-years jail

The law in Haryana is strict on the subject of illegal transportation and slaughter of cow - it is a punishable offence and, the district court of Gurgaon has awarded seven years of imprisonment to a person who was involved in the illegal transportation of cow.
The culprit was convicted for illegal transportation and causing injury to the complainant and imposed penalty of Rs 2000 apart from the prison term.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 7 February 2017.

The incident happened three years go. It seems the complainant was on his way home when he noticed some cows being loaded into a container. He got down from his vehicle and tried to prevent the cow from being loaded in container but the miscreants fled leaving cow behind. He gave chase and intercepted teem some distance away. His vehicle sustained damages and he also was hurt.
Police arrived at the spot and subsequent investigation revealed that the cow was being transported illegally.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

New luxury cruise liner Seabourn Encore is labeled as 'sexiest ship at sea'

Mahatma Gandhi’s samadhi at Rajghat gets a new look

200-year-old banyan tree uprooted by cyclone Vardah replanted in Chennai


The curse of social media – cold blooded murders committed

Saraswati Puja means entering a new phase of life

Moody on UFO, Mangalyaan and Moon Mission for monkey baat (satire)


Naomie Harris gets Oscar nomination in the best-supporting actress category for Moonlight

Nicole Kidman could earn $8 million if she writes her autobiography

Sets of the film Padmavati in Jaipur vandalised, Bhansali cancels shooting


Mayor of London worried about ISIS attacks on the city

Militants in Indonesia looking for women terrorists

Six people shot dead by gunmen in a mosque in Quebec City during evening prayers

Ice skating moves indoors because of poor ice cover in Shimla

The 13th National Ice Skating Championship has been switched to the NCR's and India's only all-season indoor rink. This has been necessitated by the absence of a good ice cover in Shimla. The championship will be in the categories of speed (short track) and figure skating. The dates are January 5 and 6 and the venue - the city's own iSKATE.
The change of venue has given the hosts hardly two days to get ready to welcome the skaters. As indicated by the authorities of iSKATE, the quality of ice is good enough for the participants to perform with confidence. As explained by an expert, an outdoors setting like Shimla means that the rink at the mercy of the elements. If there is too much sunshine or if the humidity levels are too high, the ice melts. For good performance, the has to be level.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 5 January 2017.

In order to give their best, the athletes need at least four to five inches of ice. Added to that is the cost of the skates - each pair of skates costs at least Rs. 40,000. If one is skating in muck or mud, and a stone gets in the way, it damages the blades.
There are expected to be around 300 participants. Most of them will be from India but there will also be a few Indian-origin skaters from abroad. The competition would be dominated by speed skaters, since that is the discipline young Indians are more comfortable with (helped by the ubiquity of inline roller skating). Figure skating takes more practice and effort.
The events consist of a couple of sessions on each day - from 7 am to 11:30 am in the morning, and from 8:30 pm to 11:30 pm in the evening.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

Bhitarkanika National Park in Odisha unable to attract foreign tourists

Alert Uber cab driver in California saves a 16-year-old girl from pimps

China to ban trade and processing of all domestic ivory by end 2017


Didi in jitters – keeps flying in and out of her city (satire)

Lord Shiva wants winter favorites, Durga raises her hands (satire)

Moody gets a call from Ronald Grump (satire)


Woman beheaded in Afghanistan for entering a city without her husband

Killer in Santa Claus costume kills 39 in New Year Eve party in Istanbul

Two suicide bombers kill at least 27 in Baghdad market


2016 - the year of biopics in Bollywood with cricketers ruling

Pop superstar George Michael (53) dies of suspected of heart failure

Carrie Fisher of Star Wars fame stops breathing on board a non-stop London-Los Angeles flight

Soon there would be a Metrino from Dhaula Kuan in Delhi to Manesar in Haryana

Delhi is really going high tech - Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari has revealed that plans are afoot to have a Rs 4,000 crore ‘Metrino’ public transport project which would be driverless pods suspended on a ropeway. In the first phase, it will cover the 70-Km stretch between Dhaula Kuan in Delhi and Manesar in Haryana.
This has been reported in zeenews.india.com dated 8 June 2016.

The work on the ambitious project is ready to take off and the government has received “four tenders for Metrino project to be built from Dhaula Kuan in Delhi to Manesar in Haryana”. The work is expected to begin in the two months. The basic aim of the project is to remove congestion from the rods and ensure smooth flow of traffic.
Metrino is a ropeway-like system that runs on electricity and have driverless pods that come down at designated stations thus removing the traffic burden from already congested roads. Fully automatic, driverless small pods would travel independently suspended from an overhead network which is usually 5 to 10 meters above ground.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

Some more interesting links -

Switzerland builds the 57-Km long Gotthard Railway Tunnel under the Swiss Alps

Shocking discovery of carcasses of 40 tiger cubs in Tiger Temple of Thailand

WWII bomb in London bound Eurostar in Paris creates panic


All about chest size and happy days (satire)

Lord Shiva unable to fathom IPL T20 cricket (satire)

Monsoons and Didi’s flipflops aka Hawaii chappals (satire)


Rock music festival in Germany suspended due to lightning strike in which more than 70 injured

Arnold Schwarzenegger was chased by an elephant in South Africa

Kavita Kaushik to play the role of an Army doctor in TV show “Dr. Bhanumati on Duty”


ISIS using human shields to counter attacks by Iraq military

ISIS cornered as Russian-backed Syrian army enters ISIS stronghold in Raqqa

Germany arrests three ISIS men who planned an attack on Duesseldorf

Gurgaon to promote cycling by installing cycle parking facilities

Gurgaon has launched a car-free day but, it has not produced the desired result even after four weeks and, hence, the administration wants to promote cycling in a big way. For this they have realized that absence of proper cycle parking facilities is a stumbling block that must first be removed – that would, hopefully, galvanize the citizens into action and there would be more number of cycles on the roads.
With this objective in view, the joint commissioner will inaugurate a cycle stand at Nagarro office – it will have a capacity to hold 20 cycles. The administration is already in talks with private firms and malls to earmark separate parking spaces for cycles.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 21 October 2015.

Incidentally, Nagarro has introduced parking fee for its employees on Tuesdays so as to discourage the use of cars and to promote Car-Free Day among its employees.
In order to ensure success of the Car Free Day, there will be 12 cranes assigned on the four routes to tow vehicles parked in unauthorized areas. But, the condition of cycling tracks is unsatisfactory and unless that is improved, it would be difficult to spread the cure of cycling and achieve the desired result.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

Some more interesting links -

Fossils and eggshells of baby dinosaurs found in Gobi Desert

Parama Island flyover adds to traffic jams in Kolkata – made one-way

Future of street foods in Delhi bleak - Delhi bans cooking on roads


Arnold Schwarzenegger could play in Rajinikanth-starrer 'Enthiran 2'

Emma Roberts and her horror-comedy series "Scream Queens"

India is one of 81 countries vying for Best Foreign Film in the 88th Academy Awards


Despite US airstrikes, ISIS still makes £300-million a year from oil

Syrian gang caught trying to smuggle 20-tonnes of cannabis worth £150million into Europe

US airdrops 50-tons of ammunition for M-16s and AK-47 to Syrian fighters


Durga Puja in Kolkata housing complexes

Durga Puja and cultural programs

The pandal hoppers of Kolkata

Gurgaon identifies Tuesdays as Car Free Day – any car on the road would be towed away

World Car Free day is observed on September 22 and, on this occasion, the Gurgaon traffic police has decided to observe every Tuesday as 'Car-Free Day' – this will help to rid the city roads from congestion and also encourage people to use alternate modes of transportation.
This has been reported in ibnlive.com dated 15 September 2015.

The initiative has been organized by Gurgaon Traffic Police and Gurgaon Municipal Corporation with support from NASSCOM, Embarq India, Raahgiri Foundation and Rapid Metro. As Joint Commissioner of Police Bharti Arora has revealed, with one lakh new cars being registered every year in Gurgaon, it was high time to take up the 'Car Free' challenge.
Under this initiative, the whole of Gurgaon will ensure car free from 7 am to 7 pm every Tuesday. Four major IT corridors have been identified to make the campaign more concentrated – these are DLF Cyber City, Cyber Park area, Golf Course Road and Electronic City because these have the heaviest traffic flow in the city.
On Tuesdays, Rapid Metro will increase the frequency of trains to 3-3.5 mins which would mean 225 trains and reduced waiting time for users. Moreover, there would be feeder buses provided from major metro stations like Huda City Centre, Sikanderpur, Indus Bank Cyber City and from Kapashera border to the major IT hubs of the city.
Offenders would be lifted away to Leisure Valley Park and the Gurgaon Police have sourced 20 cranes from MCG and DLF to undertake the towing – any car on the road in the period would be towed away.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

Some more interesting 'must reads'-

City of Jinan to eliminate all dogs even if they are registered pets and vaccinated

Two foreign tourists killed as Kalka-Shimla toy train derails

Molesters flee bleeding from the clutches of a karate girl in Barasat, West Bengal


Ringo Starr, Beatles drummer, bemoans the decline in the music industry

Lindsay Lohan fails to keep her date with Toronto Film Festival

Kangana Ranaut in Paris for ‘Queen’ hates actors endorsing fairness creams


This is the age of drone warfare - pick and eliminate the jihadists from miles away

RAF readies to strike ISIS in Syria to check flow of refugees into Europe

Russia’s game plan not clear – it sends Pantsir-S missile system to Syria


Bengalis are a politically conscious lot

Rasgulla, the juice-dripping sweet that Bengalis swear by

Bengalis are daydreamers tied to mothers’ apron strings

Tragic death of two sisters of Gurgaon who suffocated to death in their new car

It was a tragic death of two sisters aged 2 and 4 in Gurgaon when they entered their new Toyota Etios car that was parked in the lawn and could not come out – they suffocated to death. The house was a huge sprawling one in Gurgaon's Kadarpur village just off Golf Course Extension Road.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 11 September 2015.

It was afternoon time and while the father was away in his farm, the mother was sleeping and their 6-year-old son was doing his studies. The sisters took the opportunity to go out and enter the car. The tragedy occurred when they were not able to come out and died gasping for breath.
When the mother woke up and began to search for her girls, the sad end came to light.
May their souls rest in peace.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

Some more interesting 'must reads'-

Animals in Green Island private zoo in Russia die in sudden floods

CIA and Special Operations forces targeting high value ISIS operatives

Toilets hog the limelight in New Delhi – men to women ratio would be 50-50


Antonio Banderas gifted a pair of monkeys to Salma Hayek on her birthday

Elijah Wood of ‘The Lord of the Rings’ fame is in India on a music tour

SpongeBob musical in the offing – David Bowie to provide music


US warns Russia about it setting up a ‘forward operating base’ in war torn Syria

Robber gang in Paris blows Devil’s Breath on people to rob them

Man follows wife to Shanghai to chop off her hands suspecting infidelity


Bengalis and their ‘dada-giri’ lifestyle

Rasgulla, the juice-dripping sweet that Bengalis swear by

Bengalis are a politically conscious lot

Monkey attack in Gurgaon make life miserable for residents

There has been a spate of monkey attacks on residents of Gurgaon with at least 20 cases of monkey bites or related injuries over the past couple of weeks.
A child was bitten by a monkey while playing in a park and many complaints have been coming out from condominiums on Golf Course Road, Gurgaon-Garidabad Road and several sectors in recent weeks. In one case, a group of monkeys entered an apartment through the balcony. The monkey menace is making life miserable for one and all.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 17 August 2015.

Monkey menace in some cities in India are common because these simians come to the cities in search of food – the reason is that man has stolen their natural habitats. Loss of neem, ber and shahtoot trees forced the monkeys to enter cities. Moreover, due to religious beliefs, some people feed them on certain days and, as a result, the simians keep coming to residential areas for food.
Guards in some of the societies are equipped with sticks to deal with monkeys.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

Some more interesting 'must reads'-

Britain battered by heavy rains - parts of England saw 40mm rain in an hour

Sri Lanka get the better of a star studded India – Rangana Herath wreaks havoc

Controversy around Maggi, the 2-minute noodle: Bombay HC lifts ban, orders fresh tests


60-years of Pather Panchali – the Bengali movie of Satyajit Ray that was a pathbreaker

Spider-Man will be seen in his traditional costume in ‘Captain America: Civil War’

Big-B and Deepika Padukone’s ‘Piku’ gets best movie award at Indian Film Festival, Melbourne


ISIS planned to carry out ‘lone wolf’ terror attacks, target the Queen and the Royal family

Terrorism a family affair in London – 5 of a family arrested by counter-terror police

At least 60 killed in truck bomb explosion by ISIS in a Baghdad food market


Independence Day as I have seen it

The days of mughlai parathas

Khichudi – the favorite monsoon recipe for Bengalis

Lady Doctor duped of Rs 48 lakh by a so-called NRI on matrimonial website

A lady doctor of Hyderabad has been duped of Rs 48 lakh by a fraudster who had posed as an NRI on a matrimonial website. He claimed that he was a British citizen of Indian origin and worked as an orthopedic surgeon with the British Army on a UN humanitarian mission in Iraq.
This has been reported in news18.com dated 6 July 2015.

The woman, after interacting with the man for a month, was convinced that he was genuine and never imagined that within six months, he would do the vanishing trick with Rs 48 lakh of her money.
The mode of swindling was not new – the man informed her that he would come to India and get married and, in the meantime, he would send across jewelry worth a couple of crores to her because he did not trust his relatives.
Subsequently, she received a phone call, reportedly from the Delhi airport that since the consignment was so costly, she would have to pay some processing charges to clear it through customs. The man followed up with a call telling her that it was genuine and she should pay the ‘fees’ which she did. Beginning with Rs 20 lakh, it gradually went up to Rs 48 lakh. When she became suspicious and rang him up, she found his phone switched off.
She then contacted the crime branch in Hyderabad and the case was transferred to the Delhi Police special cell.
Subsequent raids conducted by Delhi police located three persons behind the racket. They stayed in Gurgaon and two of them were from Nigeria while the third was from Nagaland.
Investigations have revealed that the so-called NRI had expressed interest in 192 girls on the site and the police are getting in touch with them to find if there we any more victims.
(Image wikimediacommons.org)

A few more must reads -
Maggi noodles are banned in India but, the same Maggi is safe in the UK

Top Ramen follows Maggi and goes off the shelves

India’s dreams of a Utopia vanishing, courtesy arrogant and corrupt ministers

Oil giant Shell to drill for oil in the Arctic off the Alaskan coast

Venezuela facing shortage of beer


Boko Haram unleashes another round of terror on Nigeria – kill 150 in Borno state

ISIS child executioners shoot and kill 25 Syrian soldiers in Palmyra ruins in public

Britain wakes from slumber after Tunisia deaths – to debate airstrikes on ISIS targets,br>

Mangoes are forever

Ripe mangoes and mango cakes or amsatta

Uber cab hires women drivers to ensure safety of women passengers

Uber cabs in New Delhi have faced flak due to some of its errant drivers who had misbehaved with women passengers. There was an instance of rape reported and, it faced criticism once again for the recent molestation case in Gurgaon.
Therefore, the cab aggregator firm Uber has decided to employ women drivers to boost customer confidence. It has already done so in Mumbai where it has recruited 20 women cabbies to ensure safety of women travelling alone, especially in the night.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 15 June 2015.

As one of the woman drivers has remarked - women feel safe when ferried by women drivers. She has joined Uber recently and earns up to Rs 3,000 per day and is, probably, one of the highest paid woman cabbie in the city. She has explained that the numbers may soon increase to 100 as more women are coming forward to join this profession. They have the option to switch off the mobile app and attend to household chores. And, once free, can switch on the app to accept bookings.
Other operators like Ola are also encouraging women to join the profession.
Recruitment of women cab drivers is seen as an attempt by Uber to enhance its image which has been sullied by the rape incident last December and the recent molestation complaint.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

A few more must reads -
Airbus to showcase its E-Fan 2.0 silent plane in Paris Air Show

Music is a great healer – listen to classical music and lower your blood pressure

Taxi strike in Kolkata opens the doors for Uber and Ola cabs

Pickles and yoghurt help youngsters to tackle social anxiety


MI5 warns – extremists on the prowl in the streets of Britain

ISIS militants ambush and kill Taliban fighters in Afghanistan

British would-be jihadists are making detour to Syria via Canada to avoid detection


How retired persons keep themselves busy

Learn to embrace the mall culture

Time weighs down heavily on retired men

Gurgaon signs pacts for women-only cabs on International Women's Day

#gurgaon #womendrivers #InternationalWomensDay Taking into account the growing number of atrocities committed on women traveling by cabs, the administration of Gurgaon has, on the occasion of International Women's Day, signed two MoUs with five companies. They would launch women-only cabs and a mobile safety mobile app for women in the city.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 9 March 2015.
The MoUs have been signed with Maruti Suzuki, Eco Rent-A-Car and mindyourfleet.com.
The district administration has agreed to help women drivers get driving licenses from the regional transport authority, Eco Rent-A-Car cabs will employ drivers in their service. For a start, 50 women drivers will be trained.
However, the administration has not indicated when the service would start.
Another MoU has been signed with Jarviz. This is a Gurgaon based firm that has developed a mobile SOS app for women's safety. The district administration is in favor of it.
The software will have the power to track the location of a woman in a cab via GPS in her cell phone. Moreover, even if the user is not in a position to extract her cell phone during any emergency, SMS and e-mail alerts can be sent by pre-set and auto configurations.
The app also automatically sends an automated alert to her workplace when a women employee reaches her home. Friends and family members whose numbers are fed in the phone app will also get alerts. It has been on trial for two months and, even though the company has not advertised the app till now, it claims that more than 40,000 customers are already using it.
It is hoped that introduction of such measures would go a long way to mitigate the sufferings of women on the roads not only in Gurgaon but in other cities as well.