MONTH THAT WAS
Bio-diesel buses to ply in Thane
Mumbai: After Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, it is the turn of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) to introduce the use of the eco-friendly bio-diesel at one of its depots in Thane division in an effort to reduce pollution levels.
A preliminary trial at the Daund Depot in Pune Division has revealed that after mixing 20 per cent bio diesel in regular diesel, the pollution levels were reduced by 50-60 per cent and the expenditure on diesel was reduced by 15-20 paise per km. It was also noticed that there was no adverse effect on the engines of the buses after the use of bio diesel.
Encouraged by these positive results, the VC & MD of MSRTC Deepak Kapoor has ordered the use of bio diesel in all the buses of the Wada Depot of the Thane division for next five months. After this, bio diesel will be used in other depots. Once all the 247 depots of MSRTC start using bio diesel in their buses, MSRTC is expected to save about Rs 15 crore annually on diesel. The most important factor of this usage will be the reduction of pollution levels by about 50-60 per cent.
Brit monarchy ‘stupid, archaic’,
fumes Sir Rushdie
London: In comments that can rake up yet another controversy, Indian-origin author Salman Rushdie has termed the British monarchy and its traditions as “stupid” and “archaic”.
The brilliant author, winner of the ‘Booker of the Bookers’, who has a penchant for controversy said in an interview to ‘The Sunday Times’. “The monarchy and its traditions are archaic. Stupid… a British oddity”.
Asked, then why did he accept the knighthood, Sir Rushdie, now a British citizen, said he had received an honour from the Ordre des Arts et des Letters in France, and it would have been extraordinary to accept something from the French state and “then refuse something from my own country”.
The 63-year-old author thought the ceremony itself, was a bit ridiculous, “all structured around this furious archaic thing of queens and knights, all a bit stupid, but it’s what we do. You take it for the spirit of it, which is to be complimentary about your work. And I think, thanks very much. We got our medal and left.”
Iraqi coffee shop suicide bombing kills 30
Baquba: The death toll from a suicide bombing at a coffee house in central Iraq’s restive Diyala province has risen to 30, a medical official said, making it the deadliest attack. Bombing in the town of Balad Ruz also wounded 68 people, according to Ahmed Alwan, a doctor at the general hospital of Baquba, the provincial capital of Diyala. “The final toll from bombing is 30 dead and 68 wounded. All the dead are men, but the wounded include three women and two children,” Alwan said. Balad Ruz police chief Major Ahmed al-Tamimi had given a toll of 25 dead and 70 wounded “when a suicide bomber detonated a belt filled with explosives at a coffee house in the centre of the city.”
Mumbai: After Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, it is the turn of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) to introduce the use of the eco-friendly bio-diesel at one of its depots in Thane division in an effort to reduce pollution levels.
A preliminary trial at the Daund Depot in Pune Division has revealed that after mixing 20 per cent bio diesel in regular diesel, the pollution levels were reduced by 50-60 per cent and the expenditure on diesel was reduced by 15-20 paise per km. It was also noticed that there was no adverse effect on the engines of the buses after the use of bio diesel.
Encouraged by these positive results, the VC & MD of MSRTC Deepak Kapoor has ordered the use of bio diesel in all the buses of the Wada Depot of the Thane division for next five months. After this, bio diesel will be used in other depots. Once all the 247 depots of MSRTC start using bio diesel in their buses, MSRTC is expected to save about Rs 15 crore annually on diesel. The most important factor of this usage will be the reduction of pollution levels by about 50-60 per cent.
Brit monarchy ‘stupid, archaic’,
fumes Sir Rushdie
London: In comments that can rake up yet another controversy, Indian-origin author Salman Rushdie has termed the British monarchy and its traditions as “stupid” and “archaic”.
The brilliant author, winner of the ‘Booker of the Bookers’, who has a penchant for controversy said in an interview to ‘The Sunday Times’. “The monarchy and its traditions are archaic. Stupid… a British oddity”.
Asked, then why did he accept the knighthood, Sir Rushdie, now a British citizen, said he had received an honour from the Ordre des Arts et des Letters in France, and it would have been extraordinary to accept something from the French state and “then refuse something from my own country”.
The 63-year-old author thought the ceremony itself, was a bit ridiculous, “all structured around this furious archaic thing of queens and knights, all a bit stupid, but it’s what we do. You take it for the spirit of it, which is to be complimentary about your work. And I think, thanks very much. We got our medal and left.”
Iraqi coffee shop suicide bombing kills 30
Baquba: The death toll from a suicide bombing at a coffee house in central Iraq’s restive Diyala province has risen to 30, a medical official said, making it the deadliest attack. Bombing in the town of Balad Ruz also wounded 68 people, according to Ahmed Alwan, a doctor at the general hospital of Baquba, the provincial capital of Diyala. “The final toll from bombing is 30 dead and 68 wounded. All the dead are men, but the wounded include three women and two children,” Alwan said. Balad Ruz police chief Major Ahmed al-Tamimi had given a toll of 25 dead and 70 wounded “when a suicide bomber detonated a belt filled with explosives at a coffee house in the centre of the city.”
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