Indian mission to planet Mars blasts off successfully

India’s first mission to Mars blasted off successfully Tuesday, completing the first stage of an 11-month journey that could see New Delhi’s low-cost programme win Asia’s race to the Red Planet.
A 350-tonne rocket carrying an unmanned probe soared into a slightly overcast sky on schedule at 2:38 pm (0908 GMT), monitored by dozens of tense-looking scientists at the southern spaceport of Sriharikota.

After 44 minutes, applause broke out around the control room after navigation ships in the South Pacific reported that the spacecraft had successfully entered orbit around Earth.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman K. Radhakrishnan allowed himself a smile, slapped a colleague on the back and announced he was “extremely happy” that the first objective had been reached.

At the end of this month, once enough velocity has been built up by the spacecraft as it circles our planet, “the great, long, difficult voyage will start” to Mars, he announced.

“In September 2014, we expect this spacecraft to be around Mars and the challenge then is to precisely reduce the velocity and get it into an orbit,” he explained in comments broadcast by state television.

FIRST ATTEMPT

The country has never before attempted inter-planetary travel, and more than half of all missions to Mars have ended in failure, including China’s in 2011 and Japan’s in 2003.

The Mars Orbiter Mission, known as “Mangalyaan” in India, was revealed only 15 months ago by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, shortly after China’s attempt flopped when it failed to leave Earth’s atmosphere.

The timing and place of the announcement — in an Independence Day speech — led to speculation that India was seeking to make a point to its militarily and economically superior neighbour, despite denials from ISRO.

The gold-coloured probe, the size of a small car, will aim to detect methane in the Martian atmosphere which could provide evidence of some sort of primitive life form on the fourth planet from the sun.

President Pranab Mukherjee congratulated ISRO and called Tuesday’s launch “a significant milestone” that would “go down as a landmark in our space programme”.

The mission has been hurriedly assembled and was carried into orbit by a rocket much smaller than US, European or Russian equivalents, which can blast directly out of Earth’s gravitational pull.

The cost of the project at 4.5 billion rupees ($73 million) is less than a sixth of the $455 million earmarked for a Mars probe by NASA which will launch later this month.

“We didn’t believe they’d be able to launch this early,” project scientist for the NASA Mars probe, Joe Grebowsky, told AFP before blastoff. “If it’s successful, it’s fantastic.”

He stressed that Mars, which has an elliptical orbit meaning it is between 50-400 million kilometres from Earth, was

a far more complex prospect compared with a Moon mission which India completed in 2008.

“When you shoot a rocket at Mars you have to take into account that Mars is going to move a good deal before you get there.

-nation.co.ke

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6 people killed in Nyamira accident

Six people died Wednesday afternoon on the spot and several others seriously injured in an accident involving two buses from the same company.

The Nyamira Express buses collided-head-on in Nyamira County’s Metamaiywa area, about 30 kilometres from Kisii town.

Bodies were strewn at the scene and among the dead was a driver of the bus that was ferrying passengers from Kisii to Nairobi.

Nyamira County’s Keroka residents rushed to the scene in Metamaiywa to rescue passengers who were trapped in the ill-fated buses.

They removed one passenger after another, while others thrown out of the buses due to the accident impact lay on the ground, writhing in pain.

One of the Nyamira Express buses that left Nairobi at 11am was heading to Nyamira town via Kisii, while the other was carrying passengers from Kisii to Nairobi.

“I have seen bodies without limbs. It is devastating,” said James Makini who lives near the scene of accident.

Mr Fred Ndubi who was walking to his home when the incident occurred, told The Standard that one of the bus drivers tried greeting his colleague in the other bus, when he lost control of the vehicle.

“He tried greeting his colleague by hooting first before leaving the steering to wave his hand through the window when the vehicle ripped off part of the other bus,” he said.

Ndubi said five seats of the other bus were ripped off, while that of the waving driver from Nairobi, saw his seat and that of two passengers behind damaged.

Nyanza Traffic Commandant Joshua Omukata said investigations were going on to ascertain what caused the accident.

-standardmedia

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Atwoli blames industry cartel over cancellation of Mututho’s appointment

The Central Organisation of Trade Unions (COTU) has condemned recent move to revoke the appointment of John Mututho as the Chairman of the National Authority for Campaign against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA).

The central organization read mischief and blamed industry cartel for frustrating the fight against drug abuse in the country.

“This did not come as a surprise since this is the very culture as a country we have often fallen prey to and it was evident when the late John Michuki was at the transport Ministry where despite all the sanity and order he toiled so hard to bring on our roads and reduce rampant road carnage through the former Michuki rules, he was unceremoniously bundled out of the ministry as cartels and impunity reigned our roads,” said COTU Secretary General Francis Atwoli.

“Alcohol and Drug Abuse are no doubt killing our youths in this country. Kenya is losing great minds to this menace and even the President just recently directed all Country Commissioners throughout the republic to deal with it and report back to him personally on the progress made." 

"The President is much aware even from his backyard how alcohol has ruined both young men and women rendering most of them fully intoxicated to death,” he said.

He said COTU will not forgive the government if it yielded to the cartels and revoked Mututho’s appointment.

Mututho’s appointment was revoked by President Uhuru Kenyatta via a Kenya Gazzette notice of October 24, 2013. There are no reasons given for the revocation, but Mr Mututho said he had resigned voluntarily in order to be vetted by Parliament. He was appointed in September.

A section of MPs and the civil society had opposed Mr Mututho’s appointment, saying it was not done procedurally.

“I have submitted myself voluntarily to this process in order to remove any doubts about my suitability to hold this office,” said Mr Mututho.

Soon after coming into office, Mr Mututho waded straight into a debate on whether miraa should be banned or not. He surprised many when he said that miraa is not a drug as Nacada has long maintained, a statement which seems to have rubbed some at the Authority the wrong way.

“His statement meant undoing years of work that we have been doing towards fighting drug abuse,” said a senior source at Nacada who did not wish to be named. “We felt that his remarks about miraa were rash,” he said.

-standardmedia

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Kenyan Hardcore criminals escape from cells

Two robbery with violence suspects made a mysterious escape from the Eldoret Law court’s holding cells on Tuesday, raising questions about the presumably tightly secured cells.

The suspects, who are still at large, were brought to court on Tuesday morning from the Eldoret G.K prison for hearing of their cases.

It however remains unclear how the hardcore criminals fled to freedom despite heavy police presence at the courts even as investigations and a manhunt was launched over the prison break.

“We do not know how they escaped undetected but we understand that the two suspects had appeared before a magistrate in court one then fled,’’ said of the court assistants.

He said it is difficult for a suspect to escape within the precincts of the court because of heavy security surveillance in addition to keen court orders and members of the public.

A police officer who cannot be named because he is not authorized to comment on the matter said the suspects escaped between 3pm and 4pm on Tuesday afternoon.

He said security officers tasked with manning suspects were shocked over the mysterious disappearance of the suspects, hours after they appeared in court.

“We are yet to come to terms of how the criminals stage the dramatic escape despite the presence of heavy security personnel within the precincts of the court,” added the officer.

Sources said the suspects used a sharp metal tool to cut the heavy duty door hinges that provide exterior support and escaped unnoticed from the cells.

"They could have taken advantage of a lapse in close security monitoring of the suspects," said our source.

The cells are normally located behind a courtroom and police officer is assigned to man the suspects inside the room in addition to escorting them when required to face charges.

“The suspects escaped through a broken lower door hinge and used court two that was not in session at the time through a corridor into a waiting taxi whose number plate is yet to be established,’’ he said.

He disclosed that the sequence of events were captured by a Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) adding that police would develop the images into better pictures to be used as evidence.

Ng’elechei is charged with theft of motor vehicle, making fake documents and in possession of a firearm while Njoroge faces four counts of robbery with violence.

“We believe the suspects are dangerous criminals whom we suspect are armed and we are urging members of the public to volunteer information to the police regarding them,” appealed Ikonya.

-Source:standardmedia

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Hundreds left jobless by Brookside buyout of Molo milk

Hundreds of employees from Buzeki Dairy Ltd, former owners of the popular Molo milk brand have been rendered jobless after receiving termination letters on October 31 from their employer.

This follows the completion process of the company’s dairy section takeover by Brookside Dairy Ltd. 

According to one of the employees who formerly held a senior position in Buzeki’s dairy section but was unauthorized to speak to the media, those employees who were retained are mainly those working in the procurement department, drivers and mechanics.

They were paid one month salary, and said they had no clue that they will be laid off.

Most of the employees who retained their jobs were immediately handed appointment letters from Brookside Dairies Ltd after receiving their termination letters.

He noted that on the month of July this year, some of the employees had been asked to re-apply for their jobs but Brookside Dairy Ltd has only reinstated few employees.

He said that the employees believe Brookside may not need their services if they are planning to hold their main milk production processing at their Ruiru processing plant where they have many workers.

Although the employees were promised to be called back after a while, they believe that the company may fail to keep its promise since they were not given any appointment letters like their retained former colleagues.

Efforts by the Nation to reach both companies for comments regarding the employee’s fate were fruitless.

Buzeki Dairy Ltd, a locally owned milk processor was established in May 2008 and had been able to establish two milk plants in two different locations.

Buzeki’s is fourth in a series of takeovers that Brookside has completed in the past six years starting with Ilara in 2007, Delamere and SpinKnit (makers of Tuzo milk brand).

Brookside, which is owned by President Kenyatta’s family, has recently cast its eyes beyond the Kenyan borders with the announcement in September of plans to acquire a 20 per cent stake in Ethiopia’s Elemtu Dairy.

The Kenyan firm is also said to be eyeing the Nigerian market where it plans to set up a milk processing plant next year

-nation.co.ke

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The headache of keeping Nairobi clean...

If the daily complaints in this newspaper’s Op-Ed pages are to be trusted, Nairobi is becoming one huge refuse dump.

One of the latest complaints went: “Nairobi is becoming increasingly filthy. Today there is garbage all over the place… How do we deal with the hawkers responsible for the menace? Can the county government act before an epidemic breaks out?”

While the reader singled out hawkers, garbage handling is easily the greatest challenge Governor Evans Kidero faces in managing the city.

According to Mathieu Mérino in an article titled ‘Management of garbage in Nairobi: Perspectives of restructuring public action’, in the book: Nairobi Today: The Paradox of a Fragmented City; public services, particularly management of garbage, benefited from major investments by the colonial authorities from the beginning of the 20th Century.

“By 1910, the town authorities were using enough staff to ensure the regular cleaning and maintenance of public areas (especially the streets) and the collection and disposal of garbage,” writes Mérino, adding, “waste management worked relatively well until the mid-1970s.”

Today, a combination of factors, including an apparently overwhelmed county government and Nairobians’ peculiar habits of relieving themselves on pedestrian overpasses, has ensured that footbridges that were meant to minimise road accidents are rarely used.

And what seemed like public health crisis has morphed into a security issue following the recent Dandora dumpsite gang shootings.

The population of the 32,000-square-kilometre city has grown from 325,000 people 50 years ago to 3.1 million as per the 2009 census, which is perhaps why Governor Kidero appointed one-time Nairobi Town Clerk John Gakuo to take charge of the Water, Forestry and Natural Resources docket.

Although he was sworn into office mid-September, Mr Gakuo’s appointment is yet to yield any fruits—a paradox given that during his tenure as town clerk, Nairobi acquired some semblance of cleanliness, hence Nairobians’ excitement when he was appointed to his current docket.

Ironically, several initiatives have been undertaken over the years to restore Nairobi’s lost glory.

Back in June 1994 when the Kenya National Environmental Action Plan (Neap) was evolved, strategies were forged whose implementation would have made the city’s ubiquitous garbage menace history.

Nema’s first director-general Michael Koech told the Nation in an interview that environmental pollution and solid waste management was among the nine task forces he formed in the build-up to the drafting of laws to protect Kenya’s environment.

The Neap was the backbone of an environmental Bill that resulted in the 1999 Environmental Management and Coordination Act, Prof Koech of Kenyatta University said.
The law, he says, has everything needed to manage solid waste.

NEAT AND LIVEABLE
The October 2010 Preparatory Survey for Integrated Solid Waste Management in the City in the Republic of Kenya, which was prepared for the then City Council by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica), among others, is one of the latest efforts at outlining what must be done to make Nairobi as neat and liveable as other global capitals.

Implementing the document would see Nairobians breathe some fresh air like they did during Mr John Michuki’s stint as Environment minister.

While the Jica document cites insufficient funds for the city’s failure to implement clean-up initiatives, it also stresses the need for a legal framework for the public-private partnership in the management of solid waste, meaning, city clean-up is the responsibility of every Nairobian.

-nation.co.ke

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