Millennium's longest annular solar eclipse on January 15!

The first solar eclipse of the year will be visible partially in the early hours of January 15 till 6.47 a.m. across different parts of the country. This is the best until the year 2019 and the next solar eclipse visible on June 21, 2020.


People living in the southern tip of the country at Dhanushkodi in Tamil Nadu will get to watch the 'Ring of Fire' when the moon will cover the sun's disc during the millennium's longest annular solar eclipse.


However, sky gazers in Hyderabad will also have something to cheer about as they will get to see more than half of the eclipse. Annular solar eclipse occurs when the sun and the moon are exactly in line, but the apparent size of the moon's shadow is smaller than that of the visible disc of the sun. The covered sun, therefore, appears as a 'Ring of Fire', with its rays appearing spread out from the outline of the moon.


Last time India saw this 'Ring of Fire' was Nov 22, 1965, and it will not be witnessed again before June 21, 2020. In India, the eclipse will start around 11 a.m. and end around 3:15 p.m. The eclipse will first be seen in south of Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu and then move obliquely to Rameshwaram and Dhanushkodi. It will then move to Kerala and end in Mizoram in the northeast.


As part of the annular solar eclipse campaign, the Planetary society of India will provide imported German solar filters at a cost of Rs. 30 to students besides making available a special compact disc containing videos and presentations to schools.
They will also conduct observations sessions for the general public on the day of the annular eclipse.

Interested schools can contact 9295352988 or visit www.ournewplanets.com for more information.



The eclipse will be the longest of the millennium - that is between 2001 and 3000. People in most parts of India will witness the partial phases of the eclipse. The maximum duration of the solar eclipse or sun eclipse would be 11 minutes and 8 seconds over the Indian Ocean, thus making it the longest annular eclipse of the millennium.


The first annular solar eclipse of the year on January 15, 2010 will be seen in Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu and first and then travel to Rameshwaram and Dhanushkodi, where people will enjoy the best view. It will then move to Kerala and end at northeastern state of Mizoram around 3:15 PM” said, Raghunandan Kumar, general secretary of Planetary Society, India.


Experts say, people should not watch the eclipse with naked eyes, and advised them to take precautionary measures while watching the celestial activity.

Anubha K.Singh

Rise in demand of division of states how benefeciary is it for common man?

Creation of small states on the basis of administration may be considered necessary for the sake of faster growth, smooth administration and quickest execution of policy framed by the government and also the best monitoring of the plan and policy executed at the ground level. But what is the guarantee that small states will function properly and there will be all round development?


There are still many states like Goa, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Mizorem, Jharkhand, Chattishgarh etc., where no sign of development or growth is visible because entire energy is lost in change of government. State government is too small to be stable.There are many tiny political parties and groups which have got no actual party manifesto or plan to do work. There is more dirty politics and tug of war for power among politicians of various colour and group. Democracy is meant for people but in real terms government in these smaller states is for political party leaders, by the leaders and of the leaders.


So far as the smooth functioning and monitoring of policies and real development is concerned, we have for this purpose already in place a reliable set up called as District administration. But if head of the states fail to do their duty, fail to monitor the progress of every district and indulge in cheap party politics to serve their vested interest, there is no question of development taking place.


Not to forget UP government headed by Mayawati is now advocating for breaking of UP states just to deviate the minds of common men from her failures and to trap the Congress Party in a different ensnare. She has forgotten that Congress party has already submitted proposal in state assembly for carving out two smaller states out of UP.In actual sense there is no neeed for small state if each district works honestly for the development and execute the policy framed by state and central government on their respective subjects enlisted in the constitution. Unfortunately district administration is not allowed to function properly, seriously and honestly by dirty politicians of our country. Politicians in general have more faith in cheap agenda to earn cheap popularity. They have an inclination towards making money and accumulating wealth for their future generation and have a common tendency to become richest person in shortest period. This is why it can be rightly said that it is immaterial whether states are small or large. As long as people are corrupt one cannot dream of developmemt.



We have in the recent past created small state like Jharkhand carved out of Bihar and seen and experienced the pathetic position of Jharkhand in the hands of Koda and all his predecessors. In actual sense solution of all these problems lies in quality of people and not size of the state or district. After all India is one and should remain as one and every one is duty bound to maintain federal structure of the country.



If however there is consensus on formation of small states it should be well discussed, planned and structured jointly by all dominant political groups. There should be one national policy defining the area and population fit for efficient state.

Anubha K. Singh

First body builder from AP to compete in the Universe

Mir Mohtesham Ali Khan a body builder, hailing from Hyderabad winner of several titles in the country will take part in Mr. Universe Body Builder competition to be held in Miami, Florida on 19 June. Khan is the first body builder from Andhra Pradesh to compete in the Universe bodybuilding championship.

Mir Mohtesham Ali Khan, won the silver medal in the prestigious 90 kg plus category in Mr. World Championship event at the, Las Vegas last year. Over 400 body builders from 26 countries will participate in five different categories for Mr. Universe bodybuilding championship to be held from 18 to 21 June. From India 6 participants will take part one among them is Mohtesham.

The 6.2 ft tall Khan, who works in Indian Railways, His daily food intake is astonishing. It includes a kilogram of chicken, 30 boiled eggs, 12 oranges, a cup of sweet corn, 150 grams of oat meal, 200 grams of green salad and four glasses of sweet lime juice. Khan, who idolises Arnold Schwarzenegger, exercises for five hour every day.

But the irony is there is no appreciation or reward for him from the state government so far. Khan had long back kept a proposal of allotment of land for opening a bodybuilding academy in city but so far there is no word from the State government. Khan also alleges that he dint got same reward or appreciation in comparison to what Sania Mirza and Gopichand got for their work in their respective fields. The promotion letter and Prize award of Rs. Five Lakhs after winning World Body building championship from the then Railway minister Lalu yadav is yet to be cleared from the state government, he said.

The bodybuilder's achievements includes winning the bronze at the Mr. India competition. He also won thrice the Mr. South India title and is also eight time winner of Mr. South Central Railway, nine time winner of Mr AP and eight time winner of Mr. Hyderabad titles. Hyderabad bodybuilder Mir Mohtesham Ali Khan, winner of several titles in the country, including silver medal at Mr. World Bodybuilding Championship, last year.

"The record of Indian contestants at the international bodybuilding contests has not been too impressive in the past. I hope to improve it and bring laurels by gaining gold medal to our country," he said.

Premchand Degra is the only Indian to win the Mr Universe title, in 1988. Manohar Aitch and Mantosh Roy also won other world titles, but Indians have drawn a blank in the last two decades. The 30-year-old Mohtesham said he will try his best to put an end to the drought. Mohtesham, who exercises five hours a day, rued that bodybuilding does not get as much encouragement and patronage in India as in other countries." It is a good sport, which encourages youth to stay healthy and fit. It should be encouraged," he said.

The first bodybuilder from Andhra Pradesh and captain of Indian team by the Indian Bodybuilding Federation for Mr.Universe Bodybuilding Championship, Mohtesham said, "Government had not offered any sponsorship for this tour only the MP Anjan Kumar Yadav extended help to give one lakh rupees," he said.

Violation of Fire act in market areas of city!!!

It should take just three minutes for people to escape when a fire breaks out in any high-rise building, say the safety rules. But how many high-rise structures in city facilitate quick evacuation in case of an emergency? The tall structures which have mushroomed in the cities up market areas in the last decades have thrown all fire safety norms to the winds.
For instance the major market areas in like Sultan Bazaar, Badi Chowdi, Mozamjahi market, Begum Bazaar and Gujrati Gali are may be city’s pride and shopalcholic’s favourite haunt. For all its posh trappings, however, the numerous shopping complexes there hardly have any fire-safety equipment or follow the fire safety norms.

Next time there is fire accidents in Koti or Abids area don’t expect a fire tender to reach in time and start the rescue programme. An official from fire department says it’s impossible to take up a rescue programme in time in case of any fire mishap in these areas because of the narrow space and congested area due to numerous shops located in unplanned manner.

This was proven in Sunday’s fire accident in Gujrati Gali when fire-fighters were not even able to standby one fire vehicle to start the rescue programme. "Every time there is fire accident in these areas we have hard time as unplanned growth and development of this old market and huge complexes has left little space to fight fire in case of an accident keeping thousands of life in risk. Added to it most establishments in this complex did not have proper fire safety equipment", said P. Deen Dayal, District Fire Officer.

Every inch of available land required to be maintained as open space is claimed by developers. "So, despite possessing hazmat vehicles and hydraulic snorkels and other high-tech equipment, their usability is difficult in these areas. Where is the place to move fire engines?" adds, Deen Dayal.

As per National Building Code (NBC) rule, the property owner should approach the department to certify the building. If all specifications are followed, the department will give the NOC and in case of building below15-meters in height will be instructed to equip fire safety measures. Majority of buildings have not complied with the rules and lacks the clearance. But they continue to be occupied,'' he adds.

Surprisingly more than 100 high-rise structures owned by private builders are thriving in these areas, though they don't have a no-objection certificate (noc) from fire department.
"Over the past few years, several major showrooms and crores of rupees have been gutted in these round-the-clock busy areas. But well over half the buildings do not have all these arrangements In fact, most structures do not even have proper set back, evacuation and rescue facilities, he lamented.

Yet, when a major fire broke out in the electronic showroom in Gujrati Gali on Sunday evening, fire-fighters had a tough time rushing six fire engines through the narrow lanes dotted by illegal constructions and illegally parked vehicles.

Another major problem for firemen is that of traffic in these areas. Civic officials admit that response time has gone from three minutes in the 1990s to 10 minutes now. The road from Andhra Bank to Koti bus stop is encroached by vendors causing traffic snarls 24 hours. There are many such routes and market points in these areas but unfortunately the civic body as well as police turns a blind eye to this menace.

Prank calls to the fire emergency number 101

Fire-fighters in State Emergency Department accuse the police department of non-cooperation in tracing those who make blank or prank calls to the fire emergency number 101.

The fire office telecom operators are irked by the increasing number of futile calls. On an average only 10 per cent of the 1,000 calls received daily by fire- fighters are genuine and rest are prank calls.

There's no stringent rule in the country to take action against those who play with emergency services for the heck of it. Adding to their woes, blank and prank calls made by children are also causing nuisance. Some of the callers include drunkards. The problem hits a peak on Sundays and public holidays, when people prefer to stay at home.

In one instance, a woman used to repeatedly call the fire control room from Abids and then hand over the receiver to her baby, whenever the latter refused to eat. The department also used to receive calls from a youth. "He would give us as much abusive language as he could," said an official

"With the introduction of toll free calling from cell phones, the number of prank calls have increased," said the official. Many callers even request them to recharge their cell phones. "The government has provided toll free numbers for the benefit of people, but many are misusing them," he added.

Amazingly, a boy used to dial 101 at least 15 times a day and speak with firemen in a girl’s voice that she is alone in the house and requesting them to visit her. Unable to bear the nuisance, the fire officials gave a stringent warning to him and made it clear that a case would be booked against him if he did not stop the prank.

Fire personnel on night shifts have to tolerate hundreds of calls from inebriated people, who shower them with the abuses. "We disconnect the line in such cases. The problem is that a genuine caller might be trying and not able to get through to us. Unless some punishment or stringent action is taken against the culprits the problem will continue," one of the operators attending 101 calls said.

Lives of students put at risk

Lives of students put at risk by the management of schools and colleges who are running them in unsafe buildings prone to fire mishaps warn fire officials. In the latest survey conducted by fire department it was found there are nearly 40 government and private schools and institutions which lack basic fire safety norms.

Schools and colleges like Sr Chaitanya Junior College, Naryana Junior College Santosh Nagar, Pragati Degree College, Sultan-ul-uloom College, Deccan Engineering College, Deccan Medical College, Shadan Degree and Engineering College, Gowtham Schoola and College, krishnaveni Talent School, Rosary Convent Girls school, Little Flower, Owaisi Scholl of Excellence, Howard Public School, St. Francis High School, St. Joseph High School and St. Paul High school are some of the schools and colleges after giving notice from the state fire and emergency department still these schools and institutions are playing with fire safety act.

"We have served them notice to the management to install fire safety measures in their respective organizations but no action had been taken so far. We have given respective time limits to all these schools and colleges if they fall to install the fire safety equipments in the given time limits we can seal the school" said, P. Deen Dayal, District Fire Officer.

Recently the Supreme Court in a decision ordered that no new government or private school would be given affiliation if the building fails to have proper fire safety measures and earthquake resistant structure. The apex court has ordered installation of fire-extinguishing equipment and adoption of other safety measures in all government and private schools across the country within six months to avoid recurrence of incidents like the July 2004 school fire in Tamil Nadu that killed 93 children.

Ordering installation of various safety measures in all schools across the country, the apex court asked education secretaries of all states to file their compliance report of its order within one month after installing the safety measures.

The apex court also ordered all government and private schools to strictly comply with various safety measures prescribed by the National Building Code of India in 2005 and asked the governments of various state and union territories not to recognize the schools not complying with safety measures.

Before granting recognition or affiliation, the concerned state governments and union territories are directed to ensure that the buildings are safe and secured from every angle and they are constructed according to the safety norms incorporated in the National Building Code of India.

Instruction by TRAI

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) instructed to all the service providers, to clean up their Value Added Services within 45 days of its order comes. TRAI’s move is to eliminate customer complaints claiming accidental activation of caller ring back tunes through the facility of "Press star to copy hello tunes" without their explicit consent. The regulatory body’s recent survey showed that almost all operators offered this service where a pre-recorded song plays out before the called party answers.

TRAI ordered directing all telecom operators to maintain transparency in Value Added Service offerings including BSNL and MTNL. The direction states that in all cases of subscription to VAS offers through "pressing of star key or other keys," the service provider shall, subsequent to the pressing of the key by an interested user, convey to the subscriber in writing or through sms or fax or email details of the VAS scheme.

The information should include terms and conditions and applicable charges as well to obtain explicit consent of the customer prior to activation of the service. TRAI has also directed service providers not to activate chargeable services during a customer initiated call to a third party unless the subscriber’s consent had been obtained.

The order also states music or video related value added services such as caller ring back tune, background music, wallpaper shall not be provided, even if it is free of charge, without taking consent of the consumer . TRAI’s contact details should also be displayed in monthly bill statements and at customer service centers.

A BSNL official said the move was welcome even from a service provider’s perspective as it removed room for users to activate a service and then claim that it was accidental.