Petrol cheaper by Rs 2 per litre in India

New Delhi, November 15
Oil companies today cut petrol prices by Rs 2.22 per litre, thus neutralising the hike effected last fortnight that had caused huge public uproar. This is the first time after deregulation of petrol prices that these have been revised downwards.

Though oil companies said this was the outcome of their fortnightly review, a political nudge cannot be ruled out given the huge protests that followed last time both from the opposition parties as well as UPA allies like the Trinamool Congress. This will also give a breather to the government before the Parliament session that begins on November 22.

At that time, there was a demand for a rollback but the government had refused. Now, with the cut in prices, the government has protected the principle of deregulation in which oil companies have the freedom to decide prices while at the same time providing relief to the outraged public which is upset at these frequent price hikes.

IndianOil said in a statement that the prices have been cut following a fall in international crude oil prices and improvement in the exchange rate. The company reviews petrol prices on fortnightly basis. The latest review revealed that at the current prices, there will be an over-recovery of Rs 1.85 per litre. The company has, therefore, decided to revise the petrol prices downward by Rs 1.85 (excluding state taxes and levies) from November 16. The retail impact of the cut will be Rs 2.22 in Delhi.

The reduction has been possible as a result of favourable impact of slide down both in the international prices of petrol and in the rupee/dollar parity. The currency exchange rate, which had moved high in the second fortnight of October, came down marginally and remained more or less stable around Rs 49.30 per dollar.

The statement warned that given the rupee weakness, there could be a hike again next fortnight. It said the rupee suffered significant depreciation yesterday and today. If the rupee/dollar parity remained at this level or moved further away, its impact would get reflected in the next pricing cycle. The relevant pricing cycle applicable for the fortnight beginning November 16 has, therefore, remained free from any major disturbance in the rupee/dollar parity.

With this cut, there will be no under or over-recovery on petrol prices. On diesel, the under-recovery has increased from Rs 8.58 to Rs 10.17 per litre. In respect of kerosene and cooking gas, the under-recovery remains at Rs 25.66 per litre and Rs 260.50 per LPG cylinder.

In the current year, as a result of rising international prices, IndianOil has revised prices upward by Rs 4.17 per litre in May, Rs 2.62 per litre in September and Rs 1.50 per litre on November 4. 

Winter blues in Edmonton

THE FIRST SNOWFALL OF THE SEASON SNARLED ROADS IN EDMONTON ON NOV.14, 2011.

Icy roads create nightmare on every Edmonton street

It was the road to nowhere on Yellowhead Drive during rush hour on Nov. 14, 2011, when Edmonton was hit with its first substantial snowfall of the season.

EDMONTON — One hour to drive five blocks.

That was the pace of Fay L’hirondelle’s commute Monday evening. And she wasn’t alone.

The first snowfall of the season turned roads to ice and snarled traffic all over the capital region, with collisions and delays reported across the city and on highways. An elderly woman died in a Strathcona County crash.

Between 3 p.m. and 4:20 p.m., city police responded to five reports of injury accidents and 19 property damage collisions, said spokeswoman Patrycia Thenu.

“It is the first snowstorm of the season,” she said. “People are still getting used to the new road conditions, so that might drive the number up a little bit today. It’s important to remember to drive for the conditions, not the speed limit.”

By the time rush-hour was truly underway, minor accidents and stalls had caused gridlock across the city.

Buses were stuck in traffic along with everyone else, and that caused transit delays, said ETS spokeswoman Patricia Dickson.

“Took my wife over 90 minutes to get home via #yegtransit instead of the normal 25,” Brent Welch wrote on Twitter. “She’s just glad to be home.”

Drivers trying to get in or out of the south side of downtown had to contend with very slippery hills. A collision involving a bus and two cars on Bellamy Hill backed up traffic for hours. Police eventually closed the hill on 103rd Street in both directions from 100th Avenue to 97th Avenue.

City crews were out sanding and salting roads, paying particular attention to bus routes, said city spokeswoman Laura McNabb.

There were no plans to send out plows until three to five centimetres of snow had accumulated, she said. Environment Canada’s forecast called for only two centimetres overnight Monday.

Outside of the city, RCMP warned drivers to slow down.

Strathcona County RMCP said snow-packed and icy roads likely contributed to an accident on Highway 629 near Range Road 222 that killed 87-year-old Norma Harcus. Her 91-year-old husband was driving when he lost control, drove into a ditch and hit a culvert just before 8:30 p.m. He was taken by air ambulance to hospital in Edmonton with life-threatening injuries.

Black ice was blamed for two accidents in Fort Saskatchewan. A single-vehicle rollover on Highway 16 near Elk Island National Park sent two people to hospital.

The Jaws of Life were needed to get another driver out of her car after a crash on Highway 15. She and her two children were also taken to hospital.

A stretch of the highway was closed for two hours, delaying motorists and Fort Saskatchewan commuters.

Most drivers heading home from work Monday found their patience tested as they stared at seemingly endless lines of tail lights. By 5:45 p.m., an hour into her drive home from Canada Place, L’hirondelle had made it five blocks.

Maddeningly, she doesn’t usually drive to work.

“If I had walked I would have been home an hour ago,” she said, while waiting on Macdonald Drive near 102nd Street.

New $100 bill a marriage of history and high-tech

The Bank of Canada combined historical tributes and futuristic technology on Monday in issuing the country's first polymer bank note, a redesigned $100 bill that celebrates the Canadian discovery of insulin and other milestones of medical research while incorporating special new security features to combat counterfeiting.

While the new $100 note retains its front-side portrait of Sir Robert Borden — the Conservative prime minister elected a century ago this year — the back of the bill highlights such scientific achievements as the 1923 insulin breakthrough by University of Toronto researchers Frederick Banting and Charles Best.

Polymer versions of the redesigned $50, $20, $10 and $5 denominations will follow the new $100 bill into circulation over the next two years.

The paperless, plasticized bills "are more secure, more economical, and better for the environment than any we have issued previously," said Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney at an unveiling ceremony in Toronto. "These notes are also potent symbols of our rich heritage.

"We are honoured to issue this note on the site where Banting and Best conducted their groundbreaking research almost a century ago. Many forget that diabetes was once a death sentence. The discovery of insulin changed that."

Banting and research supervisor J.J.R. Macleod were awarded the 1923 Nobel Prize in medicine for the insulin achievement; Banting shared his part of the prize money with Best, the research assistant who helped carry out the trail-blazing experiments.

The new bill also references Canadian medical research contributions in the development of the pacemaker and the unravelling of the mysteries of the human genome.

The revamped $100 note was released on Monday to draw attention to World Diabetes Day and to coincide with the 120th anniversary of Banting's birth in Alliston, Ont., on Nov. 14, 1891.

The Ottawa-based central bank, which announced the planned series of polymer bills in June, said in a statement that the new notes include "complex holographic features" set within a transparent section visible from both sides.

Such features "make them difficult to counterfeit but easy to verify," the bank said.

The next note to be circulated is the redesigned $50 bill, which will continue to show Second World War-era Liberal prime minister Mackenzie King on the front. The back will feature an image of the Canadian Coast Guard Ship Amundsen, an Arctic-capable scientific research vessel.

The $20 bill will feature a new portrait of Queen Elizabeth on the front and an obverse image of the Vimy Memorial in France, commemorating Canada's military heritage.

The $10 bill will have Canada's first prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald, on the front and an illustration celebrating Canada's railway heritage on the back.

And the $5 bill will retain the portrait of Sir Wilfrid Laurier while celebrating two Canadian innovations in aerospace technology — Canadarm2 and Dextre.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, who revealed the initial currency redesigns in June, said the new notes evoke Canada's "spirit of innovation" and serve as "cultural touchstones that reflect and celebrate our Canadian experience."

Varsha Gupta, a 7-year-old from Noida, wins Doodle4Google 2011

New Delhi: Varsha Gupta, a Class III student from Ryan International School, Greater Noida, was chosen as the winner of this year's Doodle4Google competition organised by Google.

Varsha's winning doodle, titled 'Indian Musical Instruments' will appear on the Google India homepage on Children's Day - 14th November 2011. Explaining her doodle, Varsha writes, "India is a land of different cultures. In India, music plays a very important role. India has given many musical instruments to the world. Goddess Saraswati plays Veena, God Shiv plays Damaru. According to our mythological stories musical instruments used to be played on all the occasions. Even during war musical instruments were played. Lord Krishna's flute is known in the whole world for its magical music. In modern days Mr. Zakir Hussain is world famous as Tabla Mastro and Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma is known as a great Santoor player all over the world".

Google India, presented Varsha with the winning certificate along with a technology starter package including a laptop, a year's Internet connection and a Rs 2,00,000 technology grant for her school.

Google India

The competition was open to all students from Class I to Class X. This year participants were challenged to imagine their own version of the Google logo based on the theme 'India's gift to the world'.

Submitted doodles were shortlisted by partner art schools from across India and 6000 doodles entered the quarter-final round. Faculty from the Sir JJ School of Arts then shortlisted the 600 doodles that made it to the semifinal round. A panel of judges that included adman Prasoon Joshi, actress Nandita Das and artist Ganga Kadakia picked the 45 finalists. Jennifer Hom, from Google's doodle team, chose the winning doodle.

In addition to the the national winner, three group winners were also chosen through an online voting where people voted for their favourite doodle from the finalists.

Shibajyoti Choudhury (Group I) from Jamshedpur won the group prize for his doodle 'Developing excellent India and World'; Abhinav R (Group II) from Coimbatore won the prize for his doodle titled 'India's contribution to the world - Tradition'. And Nishi Bordia (Group III) from Indore won the prize for her doodle titled 'India's gift to the world - India itself'.

Google received over 1,55,000 entries from across India for its third Doodle4Google competition in the country.

The winning doodles


Indian Musical Instruments
Varsha Gupta (National winner), Ryan International School, Greater Noida 


Developing Excellent India and World 
Shibajyoti Choudhury (Group I), Little Flower School, Jamshedpur


India's contribution to the world - Tradition 
Abhinav R (Group II), Stanes AI Higher Secondary School, Coimbatore


India's Gift to the world - India itself 
Nishi Bordia (Group III), The Emrald Heights International School, Indore