MONTH THAT WAS

Mulund residents want a cycling track
Mumbai: After Khar, it was now the turn of Mulund residents to jump onto the green bandwagon and demand a cycling track themselves.
Students from 14 Mulund schools have kicked off a signature campaign to convince the BMC of the need for a cycling track for their children.
In fact, Mulund Parents Association (MPA), an umbrella-body of parents of children from 35 schools, even met up with Additional Muncipal Commissioner R A Rajeev to press for more cycling tracks in the city, especially Mulund.
Yogesh Katira, president of MPA said: "Only a mere seven per cent of the city’s population use cycles as compared to the six per cent that use cars. Isn’t it ironic that we spend crores on the latter while completely ignoring the former category of people."
Revealing how the demand for a cycle track first came about, Katire said: "We have observed that school students use bicycles as a primary mode of transport. Almost every school has about 200 students using bicycles. Hence, we felt the need to request of the BMC to concenterate more on developing facilities for cyclists in Mulund as there are a lot of cyclist children.
Katira said that lack of dedicated cycling facilities have deterred many cyclists. "Even though children want to go cycling, their parents fear that fast moving vehicles may run them down on roads. Given proper provisions by authorities, I’m sure that our roads will see many more cyclists hitting the road."
Adding that encouraging cyclists would make transport greener, Katira said, "Even as cities across the globe move on to more eco-friendly concepts of transportation, Mumbai still doesn’t have a single road dedicated only to pedestrians and cyclists."

Carbide plant to be opened to public
Bhopal : To mark the 25th anniversary of the Bhopal gas tragedy, the Madhya Pradesh Government has decided to throw open for public the defunct Union Carbide factory that claimed thousands of lives following leakage of toxic gases.
The factory to remain open for a week from November 20 to mark the 25th anniversary of the tragic incident. A decision to this effect was taken by the state government recently. Official sources, said here. State Gas Relief and Rehabilitation Minister Babulal Gaur said the government can extend days for public visits to show that there was nothing dangerous at the factory site anymore.
However, the organisations working for the gas victims have criticised the government’s decision.
The state government’s move is a publicity stunt to show people that the site is safe, an organisation said.
Bhopal representative for International Campaign for justice, Rachna Dhingra said at least ten governmental and non-governmental studies had confirmed presence of highly toxic chemicals in and around the Union Carbide factory.
At the midnight on 3 December 1984, the Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal accidentally released toxic Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) gas, exposing over 5,00,000 people to MIC and other chemicals.
As per a 1999-study by Greenpeace, over 20 percent of the factory site was contaminated and mercury level at one sample location was 60 lakh times more than normal, Rachna said.
Besides, the study also found high levels of lead, nickel, copper, chromium, chlorobenzene and sevin in soil samples taken from the factory site, Rachna said.
She said eminent scientist and founder director of the Centre for cellular and Molecular biology P Bhargav had warned that union carbide site was completely unsafe.
Rachna said the Madhya Pradesh High Court in its order on October 29, 2005 had said the factory premises should be appropriately guarded by deputing armed guards so that no outsider enters there. Bhopal gas Peedit Mahila-Purush Sangarsh Morcha leader Syed M Irfan said the Centre and the Madhya Pradesh Government were using the 25th anniversary of the Bhopal gas tragedy as an occasion to bury the disaster along with all pending liabilities.

Like China, Iran too suffers from paranoia
Iranian Embassy denounces university’s tribute to slain protestor
London: Iran has denounced Oxford University after one of its colleges set up a scholarship in honour of Neda Agha Soltan, who was dead during a protest after disputed elections. The regime accused the university in a letter of joining a "politically motivated" campaign that would "undermine your scientific credibility," said The Times. In the letter to Oxford sent from the Iranian Embassy in London, the regime said the death in June of Agha-Soltan was staged by its enemies.
It said that scholarship would "make Oxford at odd [sic] with the rest of the world’s academic institutions," according to the paper. The graduate scholarship worth about 4,000($6,600) over two years is offered to philosophy students.
In response, the university said the scholarship was entirely a matter for Queen’s College. Provost of Queen’s, Paul Madden, said the scholarship would help impoverished Iranians to study at Oxford. Agha-Soltan emerged as an emblem of the political uprising in Iran after her death during the protest in Tehran against the disputed re-election of president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Amateur videos of her bleeding to death posted on the Internet and broadcast across the world triggered an outcry over Iranian authorities’ clampdown on the anti Ahmadinejad protests. Iranian police have claimed her death was staged.
Ahmadinejad has called for a probe into her death, saying there had been fabricated reports about the incident and "widespread propaganda" by the foreign media.

Better safe than regret
Most of us have seen or experienced an accident. An accident- major or minor- leaves memories, irreversible and horrible. Next to heavy vehicles, car accidents have been more fatal than two or three-wheelers; not only due to its size, speed and capacity but also the carelessness or attitude of the driver. Driving isn’t a mindless activity. It’s an exercise in self-restraint, self-defence and self-discipline. Drive as a responsible citizen and focus on the task at hand. Our tips may help you prevent;
1. Keep your car in good shape. Stick to the manufacturer’s recommended maintenance scheduled for your car like changing the tyres after certain miles, checking the brake liners regularly, etc.
2. Know your car. Pay attention to how your car reacts in certain situations; like if it leans a lot when rounding a corner, avoid renching the wheel at high speeds.
3. Familiarise with the limits of brakes and tyres. Know how long it takes to stop when you apply the maximum pressure and how much grip your tyres have.
4. Judge a driver by the car. A damaged car body or dirty windows indicates an inattentive driver. Drifting in the lane indicates a tired, drunk or cell phone preoccupied driver. Get away from such persons.
5.Avoid the ‘fast lane’. Most highway accidents occur in the ‘fast lane’ and are more conspicuous to highway patrol. Use the centre or left lane on multilane roads where you have more ‘escape routes’ .
6. Scan the area ahead. Don’t just watch the car in front of you but also monitor the traffic in front of that car. This decreases your chance of running into the rear of the car in front when it makes a sudden stop.
7. Beware of blind spots. It is equally necessary to judge the blind spots for other drivers. Try to minimise the time you spend in such spots.
8. Let not only the mirror speak. Keep your side and rearview mirrors adjusted but don’t rely solely on them. Turn to look directly into the lanes beside you to avoid missing something.

9. Position your hands. Drive with your hands on the streering in the 9 and 3 O’ clock position. This position facilitates maximum vehicle control when you’re forced into quick manoeuvring.
10. Night-time is not the right time. Some people prefer night due to less traffic but your increased fatigue and decreased field of vision combined with joyriding teens or tired and drunken drivers make it hazardous. Be extra defensive. Don’t drive with burnt-out headlights or taillights.