Current News & Information

Chennai airport: Diwali haze threat to pilots

2011-10-25T12:00:00.000-07:00

The combined effects of rain and smoke from firecrackers might bring down visibility levels at the Chennai airport this week. While pilots might experience foggy conditions early in the morning due to dust and smoke from crackers settling on moisture after night rains, the evenings are going to be particularly hard as rockets from high-rise buildings near the airport could be distracting.

"Like laser beams, fire crackers could also divert the attention of pilots. There is even a DGCA circular stating there shouldn’t be any crackers within a particular radius of the airport as it might affect landings and take-offs," said an aviation expert.

Experienced pilots, however, told Deccan Chronicle that visibility in Chennai and other Southern cities is far better than the North of India, especially Delhi, Ahmedabad and Jaipur, during Deepavali.

"In the North, the weather would also be very cold and so, it would be near impossible to land. But in the South, we usually have 85 per cent visibility during such times," said a pilot.

When contacted, aviation expert Capt. A. Ranganathan said that city airport had experienced flight diversion during the Bhogi festival, which precedes Pongal celebrations.

"There are chances of low visibility during Deepavali especially if it rains the previous night. However, pilots can safely land using the Instrument Landing System (ILS) if the visibility levels are as low as 550 to 600 metres," he added.

Source: deccanchronicle

She dances, breaks barriers of religion

2011-10-25T11:56:00.000-07:00

Jahnara Rahman, a plus-two student, loves oppana and performs Kathakali. But her passion is Nangiar Kooth, a traditional classical dance of Kerala.
She comes from Vadakkanchery village, which was the home of another Muslim artiste, the legendary Kathakali singer Kalamandalam Hyderali. On October 23, Jahnara’s first public performance will be staged in her native village.

“I took inspiration from Sanskrit literature, which I studied as a second language in school,” says Jahnara.

“I am a performer of Kathakali and Koodiyattam, and Nangiar Kooth is another means of self realisation for me,” she added.

Jahnara has been learning and practising classical dance and music since she was three years old. For her debut, Jahnara will choreograph perform Chedipurappad, the story of Subadhra and her maid.

Nangiar Koothu is said to be the oldest women’s theatre form in existence; it is 1200 years old. In 1956, Paimkulam Rama Chakyar took Koodiyattam out of the temple into the public domain. His student, Kalamandalam Girija, created history by performing the ancient art outside the temple.

Women from the Nangiar community traditionally perform Nangiar Kooth, so it’s rare for someone like Jahnara to become a practitioner of this art.

Source: deccanchronicle

King performs funeral prayer for Sultan

2011-10-25T08:33:00.000-07:00

Riyadh: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah performed the funeral prayer for the late Crown Prince Sultan at the Imam Turki bin Abdullah Mosque in Riyadh after Asar prayer on Tuesday.

Saudi Grand Mufti Abdul Aziz Al-Sheikh led the prayer with a huge number of mourners including princes, foreign dignitaries and members of the public in attendance.

The Janazah (funeral) prayers for the late crown prince was also performed at the Grand Mosque in Makkah, Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah and all other mosques in the Kingdom in the afternoon.
Arab news

Iran arrests 9 more in $2.6bn bank fraud case

2011-10-25T08:13:00.000-07:00

TEHRAN: Iran’s state prosecutor says authorities have arrested nine more suspects in a bank fraud case described as the biggest financial scam in the country’s history.

State television broadcast late Monday an interview with Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejehei in which he said that a total of 67 people have been questioned in the $2.6 billion case, details of which first broke in September.

Ejehei said some government officials were among those summoned, and that the judiciary had come under pressure as a result. He did not elaborate.

The accusations focus on the defendants’ alleged used of forged documents to obtain credit at one of Iran’s top financial institutions. Conservative opponents of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have used the case to attack his allies.