Farmer gets payout after birds terrified by low flying helicopters ! & LHR noise complaints !!!

London Heathrow Airport (IATA: LHR) is a major international airport in West London, England, United Kingdom. Heathrow is the busiest airport in the United Kingdom and the busiest airport in Europe by passenger traffic. Heathrow lies 22 kms west  of Central London, and has two parallel east–west runways along with five terminals on a site that covers 12.14 square kilometres (4.69 sq mi).

Are you calm and composed – do you live in harmony – at peace in your workplace and at home ?  Peace at workplace could be disturbed by your boss, your subordinates and at times by unknown [rather unseen] scandalous elements jealous of you.  When you retire back, you expect a tranquil environment.  Blessed are those, who own a house – most of us live in apartment where some of the walls are shared.  There could be flurry of activities that keep disturbing you, shattering your peace. 

One of them is of course the noise – may be vocal, from the pets, from the electronic devices, from dance and related activities and more.  On a holiday, when one tries to catch up some lost sleep, there could be the spell of hammer continuously hitting or some fresh alteration work – not many options available. 

Away in advanced countries, nuisance is a tort.   There are two types - private nuisance and public nuisance. A private nuisance is a civil wrong; it is the unreasonable, unwarranted, or unlawful use of one's property in a manner that substantially interferes with the enjoyment or use of another individual's property, without an actual Trespass or physical invasion to the land. A public nuisance is a criminal wrong; it is an act or omission that obstructs, damages, or inconveniences the rights of the community. Nuisance law is not of recent origin, it  dates back to medieval times when its main purpose was to eradicate the nasty and unpleasant elements of everyday life.  The tort has continued and developed as a form of legal action with which to protect the environment.  Here are two interesting instances to do with ‘noise’.

In an instance reported in Daily Mail and other Press a Chicken farmer in Ninfield, Sussex has received £18,708 from the Ministry of Defence, after birds terrified by low-flying Apache helicopter stopped laying eggs.    It is reported that the farmer in Sussex village claimed compensation from the Ministry of Defence claiming that his birds so frightened by the loud noise of helicopter stopped laying eggs. 

The payout was just one of four last year made to poultry farmers who said that their chickens were so scared by military aircraft that they trampled one another death and that the survivors were so terrified by the noise, the stopped laying eggs.  It comes as figures released under the Freedom of Information Act showed that the MoD paid out a total of £1.1million in compensation due low flying incidents in 2014. It adds that payments were also made to people who lost horses, cows and puppies, which were also spooked by the noise of the military aircraft. 

The figures also showed that the MoD sanctioned a payment of £25,000 to a falconry centre in Derbyshire which lost a number of precious birds of prey when a helicopter flew over it. It is believed around eight birds including owls, hawks and falcons were killed in the incident when the terrified birds fatally injured themselves by flying full speed into the wire walls of the aviary trying to get away from the noise.  Many of the compensation payouts come with confidentially agreements so that people agree not to disclose what they have been paid for. Other payments included £42,700 for cows that died after being scared by a Puma helicopter in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, and £20,000 for an injured horse that lost its foal in a case in Dyfed, Wales. Often the biggest payouts are made to horse riders who suffer injuries when their animals bolt after being spooked by the military aircraft. An MoD report said low-flying compensation claims required particularly careful monitoring to identify potentially fraudulent claims.

In a different case, it is revealed that the 8,000 Heathrow noise complaints  are from just TWO people. Another report reveals that the 2 anti-Heathrow campaigners sent 8,000 noise complaints to the airport - with some arriving one hour before the aircraft was due to take off. The duo were using automated software to complain when a flight was due to fly over their homes near the airport.

But officials at the airport caught them out when they failed to take into account the clocks going back in October leading to complaints being made about flights which were still on the ground. The airport now believes that dozens of complainants are using similar software to generate automatic email complaints when a plane was due regardless of the noise.  According to airport officials, two individuals were responsible for 7,888 complaints in 2014. The airport claims that just 37 people using the automated email system have lodged more than 28,000 complaints.  The airport has seen the total number of noise complaints rise from 18,826 in 2013 to 94,114 last year.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

16^th Feb 2015.

Black Kite, Parunthu flying ! ~ சிறிய பறவை, சிறகை விரிக்க துடிக்கிறதே

The name Srinivasan Sundarrajan may not strike a bell – but   Major Sundarrajan, sure would.  Known for his dialogue delivery, this versatile actor was a director too -  one of the films written and directed by him was ‘Andha Oru nimidam’ released in 1985.  

பருந்து, பறவை வகுப்பைச் சேர்ந்த ஒரு ஊனுண்ணி ஆகும். இவற்றிற்கு நீண்ட சிறகுகளும் பலம் குறைந்த கால்களும் அமைந்திருக்கும். இவ்வகுப்பில் உள்ள இனப்பறவைகள் பெரும்பாலும் உயிரற்ற விலங்குகளையே உணவாக்கிக் கொள்கின்றன.  

Kites (birds)  belong to the Accipitridae family of birds. Unlike eagles, they are lighter in weight and smaller in size. Kites are generally found worldwide in areas with a warm climate.

There are many – Hawks, Vultures, Falcons and more .. .. perhaps this is a black kite which we call as  பருந்து.  The black kite (Milvus migrans) is a medium-sized bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other diurnal raptors. It is thought to be the world's most abundant species of Accipitridae, although some populations have experienced dramatic declines or fluctuations.  The black kite was described by the French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in his Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux in 1770.  

1985ல் மேஜர் சுந்தரராஜன் எழுதி இயக்கிய திரைப்படம் - "அந்த ஒரு நிமிடம்" -  எகமல்ஹாசன், ஊர்வசி ஆகியோர் முக்கிய வேடங்களிலும், ஜெயமாலினி, தேங்காய் சீனிவாசன், பண்டரி பாய் ஆகியோர் இதர துணை வேடங்களிலும் நடித்திருந்தனர். இத்திரைப்படம் தெலுங்கு மொழியில் டொங்கலா வேட்டகாடு மற்றும் மகான் என்ற பெயரில் இந்தி மொழியில் எனும் பெயரில் மொழிமாற்றம் செய்யப்பட்டது.  அந்த படத்தில் இசைஞானி இளையராஜா இசையில் பிரபலமான ஒரு பாடல் : 

சிறிய பறவை, சிறகை விரிக்க துடிக்கிறதே

சிறகை விரித்து, நிலவை உரச நினைக்கிறதே.. .. .... 

சோழர் குயில் பாடுகையில் .. சோலைக்குயில் ஓய்வெடுக்கும்

மெல்லினங்கள் பாடு கண்ணே, வல்லினங்கள் வாய் வலிக்கும்

சந்தமே இன்பம் தந்தது, கங்கையே இங்கு வந்தது

தென்றலே இன்று நின்றது, நன்று தான் சந்தம் என்றது 

Before you ask, I have heard this song many times, but have not seen the movie – those were the days, when my parents would not allow me to go to Cinema theatres !

 
With regards – S Sampathkumar
2.3.2024 

light in the middle ! - Stumps, bails glitter !!

This light in the middle is attractive !!

 

For those of us watching Cricket matches on TV for hours – what a transformation from the days of mid 1970s to the modern day telecast.  The game  Cricket has changed a lot – so also the technology.  

Way back in 1975 when West Indies toured India, remember seeing the Test match both at the venue and then on TV screen.  Those were the days of B&W televisions – Telerama, Solidaire, Dyanora were some of the brands.  There was only one Doordarshan – only channel.  At National Boys High School, Triplicane,  a television set was placed and they charged a measly [or was it princely amount of those days] of 50 paise for a place.  India beat the West Indies on the Pongal Test and leave was announced by the State Govt. to celebrate the occasion.

 

The most distinguishable feature of coverage was there would only one camera – yes -  you can see the bowler running in from the Wallajah road end and the back view of batsmen, wicket keeper and the slip cardon.  In the next over, when the bowling is from the Pavilion end, you cannot see the face of the  bowler – only his run-up, but the batsmen and wicketkeeper can be seen.    It continued for so many years until cameras at both ends were introduced in Australia in 1977. 

When Bishan Bedi toured Australia and lost a thrilling series 2- 3 playing a depleted side led by Bob Simpson, there would be no live coverage but around 9 pm, a week or fortnight after the match – half an hour capsule would be shown.  There were  slow-motion action replay of wickets and close appeals.  That slo-mo was really appealing to watch – you can imagine Bishan Bedi trundling a few steps, slowly bending his hip, hands going over and releasing the red cherry in a loop – poetry in action. 

This is no memoirs of the past but about recent technology – the glittering stumps!. 

In cricket, the stumps are the three vertical posts that support the bails and form the wicket.  Other than getting caught,  a batsman is  run out, stumped, bowled or given out hit wicket when either the stumps are uprooted or at least one of the bails is knocked off the top of the stumps.  Stumping or being stumped is a method of dismissing a batsman.

 

Stumps are very important in the game of cricket as they determine when the wicket is "put down". The instant the bails are dislodged from the top of the stumps, the wicket is put down – to say that there are three stumps at each end, with two bails sitting across the top of them would be too elementary for any Cricket lover.  The stumps are 28 inches high above the ground and are equally spaced to cover a width of nine inches. On a windy day the Umpires may use heavier bails, or in extremely high winds, they may choose to play without bails altogether.  However, the Umpire  calling stumps means the play is over for the day. 

The overall width of each wicket is 9 inches (22.9 cm). Each stump is 28 inches (71.1 cm) tall with maximum and minimum diameters of 11⁄2 inches (3.81 cm) and 13⁄8 inches (3.49 cm). They have a spike at one end for inserting into the ground, and the other end has a U-shaped 'through groove' to provide a resting place for the bails.  They are called Off Stump, Middle and Leg stump – on either side of the wicket – relative names to the batsman – thus a Right hander’s leg stump is off for a leftie.    

Over the years there have been attempts to bring technology but also to make the game more spectacular.  After the boring mono-colour stumps, now comes stumps that would indicate   a pulsating scroll of purple and blue lights in between overs.   

Energy, enthusiasm, or liveliness =  ‘Zing’.  In 1980s – on Poonamalle High Road, after Arun Hotel, before DG Vaishnav college, as one crossed Govt Sidha hospital, was ‘Goldspot’ factory -  ‘goldspot – the zing thing’ – was the catchy tune advertisement.   Regular Cricket views know it too well with Zing bails – when the delivery or throw or the keeper’s glouse hits the stumps – and when the bails goes off, they flash aluminous red.  Traditionally stumps and bails are made from wood, but the new flashing wickets are made from a composite plastic, which are embedded with LED lights. The use of flashing wickets in international matches has been in vogue for few years  now.   A bail is only completely dislodged when both spigots have separated from their stump grooves. A microprocessor in each Zing detects when both  spigots have become dislodged from the stump grooves. The Zing illuminates within 1/1000th of a second. 

Down under is “Big Bash League (BBL)”, Australia's domestic T20 tournament on the lines of the Indian Premier League (IPL).  BBL recently has introduced Electra Stumps. The stumps, which glow in different colours for different instances, had already been in use in Women's BBL. They made their debut during the game 11 of the season between Adelaide Strikes and Sydney Sixers. 

The Electra stumps have different colours when a six or a four is hit. Apart from the boundaries, the stumps also signal no-ball with a different colour and on batters getting out as well. The last and fifth instance of a colour scheme is between the overs - called pulse scheme.   

Batter Dismissal: Stumps flash red colour then fire from the bottom

Four: Colours shift horizontally from left to right to mark a four.

Six: Colours scroll up and down to mark a six on the stumps.

No-ball: Stumps first show red colour then white colour to inform about the instance.

Between overs: The stumps show purple and blue colour scrolling up and down as the change of bowler happens. 

So it is lot pulsating – not sure whether Electra Stumps would be on view on IPL too where we have lot of technology in the form of zing bails, Spider Camera and more.

 
With regards – S. Sampathkumar
1.3.2024 

Cat Eyes ! - ஓர் ஆயிரம் பார்வையிலே

 

ஓர் ஆயிரம் பார்வையிலே, உன் பார்வையை நான் அறிவேன்,

உன் காலடி ஓசையிலே 

பூனை கண்கள் : பூனைகள் பெரிய, திறந்த, ஒளி நிரம்பிய கண்களுக்கு பிரபலமானவை, மேலும் கண்கள் அவற்றின் முகபாவனை மற்றும் உடல் மொழிக்கு உதவுகின்றன. பூனைகளின் கண்கள் அவற்றின் தலையுடன் ஒப்பிடும்போது மிகப் பெரியவை, 

Cat staring is one of many forms of communications cats use towards others. Typically a cat might stare at new or unfamiliar faces as an intimidation tactic, in hopes that the other cats/ humans  will blink or shy away. Cats are visual hunters, so naturally, they tend to stare in order to keep a close eye on potential prey. Cats will also use a direct stare when they are feeling territorial, showing dominance, or posing a threat or challenge to other cats.