High speed rail

The Indian Railways' VISION 2020 envisages the following on High Speed Corridors: 

"India is unique and alone among the major countries of the world in not having a single high-speed rail corridor capable of running trains at speeds of over 250 kmph. High Speed corridors have played a major role in revitalization of Railways in Japan and Europe. Of late, high speed-rail networks are also getting built in China, Taiwan, and USA. Indian Railways would follow a two-pronged approach in this respect. The first approach would be to raise the speed of segregated passenger corridors on trunk routes using conventional technology to 160 to 200 kmph. The second approach would be to identify a number of intercity routes, depending on viability, and build state-of-the-art high-speed corridors for speeds up to 350 kmph through on PPP mode in partnerships with the State Governments. Partnerships with the State Governments would be crucial as real-estate development would be a key element of viability of these high-cost projects. By 2020, at least four corridors of 2000 kms would be developed and planning for 8 other corridors would be in different stages of progress."

The Expert Group for Modernization of Indian Railways in its report of Feb, 2012 made the following recommendations:"Construct a High Speed railway line between Ahmedabad and Mumbai with speed of 350 kmph.

Undertake detailed studies for 6 other High Speed rail corridors already identified. These include: (1) Delhi-Chandigarh-Amritsar (450 km); (2) Hyderabad-Dornakal-Vijayawada-Chennai (664 km); (3) Howrah-Haldia (135 km); (4) Chennai-Bangalore-Coimbatore-Ernakulam (850 km); (5) Delhi-Agra-Lucknow-Varanasi-Patna (991 km) & (6) Ernakulam-Trivandrum (194 km)..."

Pro:

Proponents of high speed rail argue that the lines will reduce traffic burdens, provide an environmental benefit, and create jobs. If people come to favor the high speed rail lines over transit by car, especially over longer distances, there will be a positive effect for the environment, as far less pollution will be created overall. In addition, this will reduce traffic congestion, leaving far less people on the roads. The act of the creation of the rail line will in itself provide a benefit - many workers will be needed to work on the project, providing economic stimulus. In addition, if the high speed rail does indeed make travel easier and cheaper, many who would have previously been unable to may be able to get jobs further away from their homes. Supporters of high speed rail say that the benefit to the community, the environment, and the economy far outweighs any costs. 

Con:

Detractors, however, say that the high speed rail program will just eat the budget and reap no real rewards. They argue that, especially in America, very few people will take the trains, opting instead for the freedom offered by personal automobiles. Some also claim the prices for high speed rail tickets might be too expensive for many people to take the trains regularly. This lack of riders will render the supposed benefits of the high speed rail network moot. Given the amount of government funding that is being used on the project and the doubter's lack of belief in its success, they argue that the funding should be instead used for improving the current transportation infrastructure. Some even argue that it seems unlikely that many of the proposed high speed rail lines will even be built at all, with the money being left untouched and unused. 

http://infrapppworld.com/2011/07/high-speed-rail-in-india-pros-and-cons.html 

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-07-13/news/51429351_1_bullet-trains-indian-railways-high-speed-rail-project/2

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Useful websites

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Left wing Extremism

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Understanding India’s Counterinsurgency Strategy Against the Naxal Threat | Center for the Advanced Study of India -

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Ebola Virus in PIB

Ebola virus disease (EVD), formerly known as Ebola hemorrhagic fever, is a severe, often fatal illness in humans.EVD outbreaks have a case fatality rate of up to 90%.EVD outbreaks occur primarily in remote villages in Central and West Africa, near tropical rainforests. The virus is transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads in the human population through human-to-human transmission. Fruit bats of the Pteropodidae family are considered to be the natural host of the Ebola virus.

Ebola first appeared in 1976 in two simultaneous outbreaks, in Nzara, Sudan, and in Yambuku, Democratic Republic of Congo. The latter was in a village situated near the Ebola River, from which the disease takes its name. Although non-human primates have been a source of infection for humans, they are not thought to be the reservoir but rather an accidental host like human beings.

Transmission

Ebola is introduced into the human population through close contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected animals. In Africa, infection has been noticed among those handling infected chimpanzees, gorillas, fruit bats, monkeys, forest antelope found ill or dead or in the rainforest. Ebola then spreads in the community through human-to-human transmission, with infection resulting from direct contact (through broken skin or mucous membranes) with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected people, and indirect contact with environments contaminated with such fluids. Men who have recovered from the disease can still transmit the virus through their semen for up to 7 weeks after recovery from illness.

Health-care workers have frequently been infected while treating patients with suspected or confirmed EVD when infection control precautions are not strictly practiced.

Signs and symptoms

EVD is a severe acute viral illness often characterized by the sudden onset of fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat. This is followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, rash, impaired kidney and liver function, and in some cases, both internal and external bleeding. The incubation period, that is, the time interval from infection with the virus to onset of symptoms, is 2 to 21 days.

Diagnosis

Before a patient is diagnosed as infected with EVD, one should rule out malaria, typhoid fever, shigellosis, cholera, leptospirosis, plague, rickettsiosis, meningitis, hepatitis and other viral hemorrhagic fevers like dengue, yellow fever and kyasanur forest disease etc.

Vaccine and treatment

There is no specific treatment nor is any licensed vaccine for EVD available. Several vaccines are being tested, but none are available for clinical use. Severely ill patients require intensive supportive care. Patients are frequently dehydrated and require oral rehydration with solutions containing electrolytes or intravenous fluids.

Prevention and control

No animal vaccine against this is available. Routine cleaning and disinfection of pig or monkey farms (with sodium hypochlorite or other detergents) should be effective in inactivating the virus.

If an outbreak is suspected, the premises should be quarantined immediately. Culling of infected animals, with close supervision of burial or incineration of carcasses, may be necessary to reduce the risk of animal-to-human transmission. Restricting or banning the movement of animals from infected farms to other areas can reduce the spread of the disease.

As this viral outbreak in pigs and monkeys have preceded human infections, the establishment of an active animal health surveillance system to detect new cases is essential in providing early warning for veterinary and human public health authorities.

In the absence of effective treatment and a human vaccine, raising awareness of the risk factors for Ebola infection and the protective measures individuals can take is the only way to reduce human infection and death.

India and EBOLA

There is a risk the deadly virus could be imported into the country if the large population of Indians working in the four affected West African nations returns. There are nearly 45,000 Indian nationals living and working in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria - where an outbreak of the disease has killed 932 people. While the risk of Ebola virus cases in India is low, preparedness measures are in place to deal with any case of the virus imported to India. Government has advised against all non-essential travel to the four countries, and authorities will screen travelers who originate from or transit through affected nations, and track them after their arrival in India.
The government will also set up facilities at airports and ports to manage travelers showing symptoms of the disease. State authorities have been instructed to designate hospitals with isolation wards for response to possible cases and to stock personal protective equipment.