The Tribune – Menon in Beijing; Army chief reviews border security

Kolkata, December 2. On a day when National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon arrived in Beijing for carrying forward the border talks, Army Chief Generak Bikram Singh reviewed the operational preparedness of troops along the China border in the NorthEast.

“Eastern Army Commander Lt General Dalbir Singh Suhag briefed the Army Chief on the operational preparedness and the security scenario in the eastern region,” a defence spokesperson said. The Eastern Command is in-charge of securing the region east of Kolkata up to Arunachal covering boundary with China.

India is upgrading its defence preparedness along the eastern boundary by raising more troops, new formations and deploying more lethal assets such as the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile.

This was General Singh’s maiden visit to the Fort William-based Command headquarter since taking over as Army Chief on May 31, this year.

The visit follows his earlier visits to the three Corps headquarters under Eastern Command based at Sukna, Dimapur and Tezpur in recent months.

“It is virtually a homecoming,” said General Singh on arrival. Having commanded the Eastern Command for over two years, this is one formation that is very close to my heart,” he said.

As a mark of respect to former Prime Minister I K Gujral, who passed away on Friday, several planned social events were cancelled during the visit, the spokesperson said.

The Army Chief, who has so far addressed nearly 16,000 officers during his official visits to various formations and units across the country, including via video conferencing, addressed over 250 officers posted in and around Kolkata.

Sharing his vision to enhance operational effectiveness of the Army, he dwelt on some of the thrust areas that include effective fulfilment of the constitutional obligations and assigned roles, including force modernisation as per stipulated time lines.

General Singh also stressed on effective human resource management to ensure highest standards of motivation and morale.

“In my reckoning, unless these people are happy, the Army cannot be strong and happy. We cannot afford to ignore our ex-servicemen and ‘veer naris’ (war widows)” he said, while delving on various measures initiated for their welfare.

Menon in Beijing for talks

Beijing: In the first high-level Sino-India contact since the once-in-a-decade leadership change in the ruling CPC, National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon arrived here on Sunday for wide-ranging talks on bilateral ties, including the vexed border issue.

During his three-days stay here, Menon would be meeting some of the new leaders elected during last month’s Congress of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) to succeed the outgoing administration headed by President Hu Jintao.

There is no official announcement here about Menon’s schedule.

Besides holding talks with his counterpart and China’s top diplomat Dai Bingguo, who too would retire in March next year, Menon is expected to call on Vice Premier Li Keqiang, the number two leader in the seven-member new Standing Committee of the party headed by General Secretary Xi Jinping, according to official sources.

Li is tipped to succeed Premier Wen Jiabao when he steps down in March after which a new administration headed by Xi, who would replace President Hu Jintao, would take over power formally.

The two officials designated as Special Representatives for the talks to resolve the border issue would review the progress achieved during the last 15 rounds of parleys and exchange views on a wide spectrum of bilateral relations, according to officials.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20121203/main4.htm

The Tribune – After particle discovery, spotlight on Bose

Kolkata, July 5. The discovery of a new subatomic particle, possibly the Higgs boson considered “a key to the cosmic riddle”, has put the spotlight once again on Satyendra Nath Bose, the Indian scientist from whose surname the word ‘boson’ is derived.

“India is like a historic father of the project,” said Paolo Giubellino, spokesman of the Geneva-based European Organisation for Nuclear Research (also known as CERN), which conducted the experiments to find the elusive ‘God’ particle.

Bose (1894-1974), a physicist from Kolkata (erstwhile Calcutta) and a contemporary of German scientist Albert Einstein, did path-breaking work on quantum mechanics in the early 1920s, using maths to describe the behavioural pattern of the bosons — one of the two families of fundamental particles that the universe is classified into.

The other family of fundamental particles — fermions — is named after Italy-born American physicist Enrico Fermi.

Bose worked with Einstein in the 1920s, providing the foundation for Bose-Einstein statistics, and the Bose-Einstein condensate. He is also acknowledged as the person who laid the foundation of quantum statistics.

However, Bose never won the Nobel Prize, even though in later years the award was given several times for research on bosons.

“He laid the base though his work. He definitely deserved the Nobel Prize. Definitely,” said Archan Majumdar, an astro-physicist at SN Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences here.

“However, at the same time, some kind of historical justice has also been done. His name has been immortalised in bosons,” Majumder said.

“And while it is always good to recognise past achievements, it does not take the sheen away from the present successes.

What the CERN scientists have done is great. It’s a great leap forward in the fundamental research and knowledge of human civilization,” he said.

Milan Sanyal, director of Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, though delighted at the discovery, rued the fact that while the Higgs (named after British physicist Peter Higgs) in Higgs boson was in upper case, the boson was in lower case.

“I shall write to CERN on this. It is not a complaint. But I will point it out. I have already received many emails and calls on this. I don’t want to shoot any letter now as they are celebrating. But I shall write to them soon,” Sanyal assured IANS.

However, he said scientists of his institute had collaborated with Geneva-based European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) for the crucial Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiments.

“On August 26 last year, we signed three memoranda of understandings with CERN, one of which was on CMS,” he said. Five faculty members from the institute were part of the core CMS team. “Besides, we have 10 Ph.D. students who are part of the project,” he said. (IANS)

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120706/main8.htm

The Hindu – Mamata says 50 bodies recovered from AMRI hospital

Indrani Dutta

Kolkata, 9 December 2011. At least 25 persons, including critically ill patients, are feared dead in a devastating fire at a private hospital in Kolkata.

Twenty-five fire engines are trying to combat the situation. While the fire that has been doused, thick smoke is still billowing out of the multi-storeyed AMRI speciality hospital in Dhakuria.

The fire broke out in the “early hours” at the basement where hospital chemicals and medical waste were stocked.

Fire service minister Javed Khan said that 80 per cent of the patients have been removed to other facilities.

46 bodies removed from amri hospital, the additional director general , west bengal fire services said. The list included patients and hospital staff.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who visited the hospital, however, said 55 bodies have been recovered, as noxious fumes are still emanating out of the basement and engulfing the crowded neighbourhood.

Milling crowds, of patients’ hapless relatives and curious passersby are hampering rescue operations. Some firemen have also been reportedly fallen ill.

Meanwhile, the bodies of the victims were being sent to the state-run SSKM hospital. Police sources said that at least 40 bodies have arrived at the SSKM mortuary and now bodies are being diverted to other state hospitals. SSKM hospital is the biggest hospital in Kolkata.

Six hours after the worst such tragedy, there has been no official communication from AMRI hospital so far.

Arunangsu Roy Chowdhury, The Hindu’s photographer who was covering the accident said, some locals broke open the window panes and rescued some patients.

Angry relatives and locals vandalised the receprion of the hospital, claiming that it failed to adhere to the safety norms.

The death toll could go up to 50, predicted Mr. Roy Chowdhury.

PTI adds:

Personnel of the Disaster Management Group reached the scene and were assisting in the operations. Commissioner of Kolkata Police R.K. Pachnanda too rushed to the spot.

Firemen smashed sealed windows to let the smoke out of the the annexe building of AMRI Hospital where a fire raged as paramedics rushed to revive patients evacuated out of the critical care units.

As soon as a patient was brought out of the building, families watching in horror rushed to ascertain if they could identify him, a PTI correspondent on the scene said.

Patients are being moved to the state-run SSKM hospital for further treatment.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/other-states/article2700650.ece