100 kms long Traffic Jam in China

Beijing, Aug 24 2010 (IANS): Does your blood boil when you get caught in a traffic snarl? If so, then do spare a thought for motorists in China who have been stuck for the past 10 days in a traffic jam that stretches a good 100 km on a highway.

Trucks bound for the Chinese capital are barely moving on the Beijing-Tibet Expressway, formerly known as the Badaling Expressway, due to ongoing maintenance construction work.

Traffic authorities are struggling to cope with congestion on the major national expressway on which traffic has slowed to a snail's pace, Global Times reported Monday.

The congestion is expected to last for almost a month, since the construction is due for completion Sep 13.

Local residents are profiting due to the massive traffic jam by overcharging drivers for food.

Since Aug 14, thousands of Beijing-bound trucks have choked the expressway. Now traffic stretches for over 100 km between Beijing and Huai'an in Heibei Province and Jining in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China National Radio (CNR) reported.

Minor traffic accidents and broken-down cars have aggravated the jam.

'Insufficient traffic capacity on the National Expressway 110 caused by maintenance construction is the major cause of the congestion,' a publicity officer with the Beijing Traffic Management Bureau told the Global Times.

The National Expressway 110 is available to trucks with a carrying capacity of eight tonnes and more. The road had suffered serious damage due to the great volume of heavy trucks.

This month there have been more trucks carrying excessive coal or fruit, but the Beijing section of the Beijing-Tibet Expressway is available only to trucks with a weight of less than four tonnes.

Traffic congestion and road safety have become major concerns for Chinese motorists.

Some kill time by playing cards, while some wait patiently.

Source: in.news.yahoo.com

India Independence Day 2010

India Independence Day 2010 - Proud to be an Indian



Jahan Dal Dal Par Sone Ki Chidia karti hai basera vo Bharat desh hai mera

INDIAN ARMY IN ACTION

This was during the recent HEMKUNT SAHIB pull break wherein people were stranded on both sides...ARMY was brought into action and temporary pull was set up to ensure smooth pilgrimage of people going to and coming from HUMKUNT SAHIB.

Where there's a wheel

New Delhi, July 30 - She hangs out in the college canteen, she attends friends' weddings, she has 56 friends on Facebook and her favourite Bollywood actor is Hrithik Roshan.

Akshika Aggarwal, 21, a final year student of Janki Devi Memorial College, has a life as remarkable as anyone else of her age, except that she is paralysed from waist below since birth. With Delhi University announcing plans to make the campus more friendly for the physically disabled - by building ramps and elevators in colleges, introducing special buses and getting scanners to convert books into audio CDs - life could become much easier for such students.

But how have been they coping till now? Here's a look at a day in Akshika's life. The day for this BA Programmes student starts at 7 am in her second floor Karol Bagh apartment. Her mother helps her in dressing up. "I usually wear shirts and pants. Salwar kurtas are not very comfortable," she says. When ready, her father helps Akshika down to the ground floor.

The college is a five-minute scooter ride away. At the gate, a female attendant (Akshika calls her 'Auntyji'), especially employed by the college for Akshika, helps her into a wheelchair and takes her to the class. The college authorities moved all the classes of Akshika's course to the ground floor. "That was a very nice gesture," she says. "But sometimes, I get this yearning to go to the college's top floor and view things from there."

In the class, Akshika usually sits in the front row, where the wheelchair fits easily. "The teachers are very supportive. Since my hand movements are very slow, I write very slowly. Sometimes, my classmates Xerox their notes for me," she says. During regular class hours, the female attendant frequently checks on Akshika, in case she needs to go to the washroom. During lecture breaks, Akshika accompanies classmates to the canteen, which has also been provided with a ramp built specially for her use. As the classes get over, Akshika's attendant takes her to the gate, where her father waits for her. What when the attendant is delayed and friends have left? "Someone or the other always appears."

DU's special arrangements A special cell called the Equal Opportunity Cell (EOC) has been set up to help physically challenged students SGTB Khalsa College has specially designed elevators and toilets St Stephen's College is in the process of setting up a separate room in its library with five computers installed with software for the visually impaired.

Source: in.news.yahoo.com