Big Island hotel bookings for summer months are off almost 50 percent from last year, Rob Birch, executive director of the Island of Hawaii Visitor Bureau, told journalists on a conference call. (Photo: AP) Pahoa, Hawaii: Explosions intensified on Hawaii&OIL SEAL Manufacturers39;s Kilauea volcano on Tuesday, spewing ash and sparking a red alert for aviation for the first time since the latest eruption began 12 days ago.An aviation red alert means a volcanic eruption is under way that could affect aviation by spewing ash into air routes, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS) website. Lava has burst from the ground and torn through housing developments and farmland, threatening one of the last exit routes from coastal areas, state Highway 132. It can make roads slippery and if emitted in large quantities could cause electrical power lines to fail, said USGS chemist David Damby.Road crews put metal plates over steaming cracks on nearby Highway 130 and reopened it to provide coastal residents an escape route in case a lava flow reaches the ocean and blocks another exit artery, Highway 137, Civil Defense said.

New FissureThe eruption has taken its toll on the island's tourism industry.Ash was also a new hazard for residents of Hawaii's Big Island already dealing with volcanic gas and lava that has destroyed 37 homes and other structures and forced around 2,000 residents to evacuate."We're observing more or less continuous emission of ash now with intermittent, more energetic ash bursts or plumes," said Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) Deputy Scientist-In-Charge Steve Brantley on a conference call with reporters."At any time, activity may become more explosive, increasing the intensity of ash production and producing ballistic projectiles near the vent," the HVO said in a statement on the change in aviation alert level to red from orange.A looming menace remains the possibility of an "explosive eruption" of Kilauea, an event last seen in 1924.The latest tear in the earth or fissure opened on Tuesday, spewing lava and toxic gases that made air quality "condition red" around Lanipuna Gardens and nearby farms, causing "choking and inability to breathe," the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory and Hawaii County Civil Defense said.

And just like the intensity of the downpour almost like an arc, there is a distinct bearing on the placement of the ragas’ singing schedule. Kalidas’s lyrical poem Meghdootam – the messenger cloud – when a divine Yaksha is separated from his Yakshini by the gods, his pining messages of love are carried by monsoon clouds, is arguably the classic example of monsoon related poetry. A particularly evocative one likens the bridegroom’s sehra woven from the fragrant jasmine flowers of the season and the lightening akin to the silver and gold zari of the cummerbund wound around his waist, the thunder reverberations from the gallop of his white steed…Dr Alka Raghuvanshi is an art writer, curator and artist and can be contacted on alkaraghuvanshi@yahoo. The viraha songs of the women who await the arrival of their beloved touch a new depth of poignancy as they are sung in monsoon in Rajasthan, eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The logic is that it is not merely the ragas, but the swaras that dance to the rain.The poignant smell of the earth as the first raindrops fall is something that has inspired the romantic in all of us.

The word monsoon comes from the Arabic word mausim, meaning weather.The optimism of the koels who have been singing their melancholic yet seductive songs in an attempt to inveigle the clouds has finally paid off…and the skies open in a veritable deluge of sparkling drops that touch the earth and the magic unfolds…the papiha calls out to its mate to be united with its beloved as the earth rips open in a celebration of rejuvenation and reaffirmation.The monsoon in India comes laden with a myriad moods and connotations, romance and viraha (or separation), poetry and puddles, fertility and floods, art and affection woven in the colours of the rainbow in a joyous abandon. Every time this season comes around, I feel like the nayaika of a Raagmala painting, for my heart sings with joy as the dark clouds envelop the sky, their bosom heaving with incandescent rain, the silver streaks of lightening flashing to illuminate the jubilation of a burgeoning earth… Today being Haryali Teej, I can’t help point out that in India, more than spring, it is monsoon that is the season that is looked forward to Blower bearings Suppliers with great anticipation.

Replying to Rahul Gandhi&Compressor bearing for sale39;s charge that demonetisation is the biggest scam in the history of India, Rijiju said, "It is unbecoming of the Congress to lecture us on scams, because the grand old party has looted the country for so long. Earlier in the day, Rahul Gandhi alleged that demonetisation is the biggest scam in the history of India. Many veteran politicians and even the President have asked for a discussion on demonetisation," she said. As parliament is the platform of debate and discussion, I welcome him to come forth," Union Minister for Textiles Smriti Irani said.Rijiju said here that the Congress party does not have the courage to face a discussion as the Centre has logic and reasoning behind every decision which it has made since November 8. The Congress has failed in front of the nation," he added."Earthquake effect is seen more in the Congress party rather than in others.The Congress and other opposition parties have vociferously and relentlessly been criticising the November 8 scrapping of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes. The Congress party has looted the country for so long. The note ban, or demonetisation, has caused a severe cash crunch, with farmers and poor bearing the brunt of the shortage of new notes.""The government is running from a debate.

"In the Lok Sabha the debate has already started, but the opposition started running away from the debate. Now, the government has announced this landmark move, but the Congress party does not have the courage to face the debate."From the first day itself, we have been saying that the government is open for a debate on demonetisation. Replying to the Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi's comment that if he speaks on demonetisation, then an 'earthquake' will occur, two central ministers said he was over estimating his debating skills. The Congress and the Trinamool Congress are running away from a discussion by putting up unnecessary excuses," he said."Rahul is overestimating his debating skills."Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said today that if he is allowed to speak in the Lok Sabha on the issue of demonetisation, it has the potential to cause an "earthquake. Even he knows how good he is in front of the people. We have the logic and reasoning for the discussion..Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju said the # Centre is open for a debate, but the opposition is only running away from it by putting unnecessary excuses. If they allow me to speak, then you will see what an earthquake will come," said the Congress vice president.Earthquake effect is seen more in the Congress party rather than in others, said Union Minister Smriti Irani.

Anup&Gearbox bearings Suppliers39;s wife Minakshi (40) and his son Rajat (15) were found unconscious in another room. It is suspected that they were given some substance which made them unconscious.The police were informed about the incident around 6 am.The family members were undergoing treatment at a city hospital but were # unfit for statement, they added.Senior police officers said that even though some of the family members had regained consciousness, they were not able to recall what happened. On entering the house, she found two family members lying in a pool of blood. When a woman relative came to meet them, she found the main door open.Narayani Devi (75), who stays with her family, was found bearing sharp injury marks on her neck while her son Anup was found in another room with a sharp injuries on his stomach.

The family had come together for a wedding.Two members of a family were found injured and four others unconscious in their home in northwest Delhi's Bhalswa Dairy area this morning.Devi's elder son Titu (50) and his wife Anju (48) were found in a semi-conscious state in another room. The house was not ransacked and none of the items in the house were missing, the police said.Two minor girls who were sleeping in an adjoining room were not attacked, the police said.The minor daughters of Anup and Titu were sleeping and escaped unhurt.A case has been registered and the police suspect that it could be a fallout of personal rivalry. Two minor girls who were sleeping in an adjoining room were not attacked, the police said.A case has been registered and the police suspect that it could be a fallout of personal rivalry.The police reached the house and rushed all of them to Max hospital where they are undergoing treatment.