Sunday, January 27, 2013File:Australian Mitre 10 logo.jpg

Wednesday, an over-90-year-old Manns Mitre 10 hardware store, run by Alex P Mann Pty Ltd, closed until further notice after a rent dispute in Port Adelaide, South Australia. The rent dispute involved $315,060.70 of rent for months of September 2012 to January 2013 unpaid to the landlord, Fourteen Sails Pty Ltd. The site was distrained. The store had to fire about 40–50 employees without a warning in advance.

The store was closed three days before Australia Day, January 26, Saturday.

The store administrator, Tim Clifton, said they had to ring the workers out of the blue: “I was advised the landlord had distrained for unpaid rent over the business and that left the directors in the position where the business was untenable. I presume at this stage trading was poor and the company just didn’t have the money to pay the rent. … Unfortunately they had to terminate their employment this morning and we’ve rung them all. We’ll do our best to get them their entitlements under the government schemes, and we calculate what they’re owed in the next few days and hopefully get that underway for them. … It’s a sad day. It’s a sign of the times isn’t it. Things are tough out there.”

Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union state secretary Dave Kirner said workers were not allowed to collect their personal belongings left inside of the store: “I spoke with a worker who said the locks have been changed, they were asked to leave and all their personal belongings are in there”.

On Saturday, Wikinews took photos of the documents available at the store entrance. The rent dispute details and an inventory were available for everyone to read. During the ten minutes of taking photos, around seven people visited the closed entrance and read the documents a first time. One of them commented, “oh hey, Bunnings will be stronger”.

The store owner, Jarred Spearman, reported negotiations ongoing with the landlord and said he would “hopefully try to work [our] way out of this … We are pretty lucky to have the customers and staff we had”.

Port Adelaide Mayor Gary Johanson said the loss of the store is a significant loss as Port Adelaide is being redeveloped: “Their staff were extremely good, the service levels were high, the store was always well stocked and it was a great example of a family business. That will be a great loss to the Port.” “The landlord is not at fault here. The landlord is acting within their rights. … This is the sort of thing we cannot afford to lose if we’re serious about the Port being redeveloped. This is not a multinational company. This is a franchise of a bigger company but it is a family franchise and it employs a lot of staff. The staff that they employ are local people and they’re employing large amounts of staff in relation to their turnover. We need to take stock of what local businesses we have left and say, how can we ensure they stay with us?”

Saturday, January 27, 2018

On Wednesday, various cities in the Indian state of Karnataka observed Karnataka Bandh ^{((en))English language: ?Karnataka closed}, as people protested for central government to sort out the dispute of water share for the Mandovi river, also known as Mahadayi, which has been going on for decades. Bus service in Karnataka’s capital Bangalore was at a complete halt, however, the bandh was not strictly followed in southern parts of Karnataka, including in Mysore.

The 77 kilometer (about 48 mile) river originates in northern Karnataka, and flows through Goa. Almost two thirds of the river’s length is in Goa. Requests for 7.6 billion cubic feet (about 175,000 acre-feet) of river water to be released to Belagavi, Bagalkot, Dharwad and Gadag districts were made by Karnataka government for seventeen years. There were plans for Karnataka to build canals for storing water for those four districts, which are prone to drought, which were stopped by judge JN Panchal in July 2016, asserting the affects on environment.

As a result of bandh, various schools and colleges announced a holiday, and Bangalore University postponed their exams. Deputy Commissioner Ramprasath Manohar said, “Schools and colleges in Ballari district of Karnataka will remain closed in the light of the state-wide bandh called by the pro-Kannada organisations and farmers’ welfare associations”.

Indian Medical Association wore a black band for the support, as the medical services we not interrupted in Banglaore, nor were auto-rickshaw services. Hotels remained open at some places. Movie cinemas and malls were also to stay closed.

Kannada actor Prakash Raj uploaded a video on Twitter saying, “First of all, all political parties must stop politicising it. We Kannadigas have a right over the water that flows past Kalasa Banduri. In a democracy, once a political party comes to power, it is no longer just a political party, but a party that is duty-bound to work for the people it represents. Any party that keeps saying — ‘our party is ruling at the Centre, so we will take the water through political means’ — is telling a blatant lie. This is a pro-people agitation. Please don’t do politics over people’s fundamental rights. My request to all parties — please leave your political ideologies aside, put aside these attempts to beg for votes. We must come together and stand together to put pressure for our rightful share in the water. Let’s agitate and ensure our rights are given to us.”

The Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) claimed the timing of the bandh was a political ploy to distract from party president Amit Shah’s scheduled rally on the same day in Mysore.

Vatal Nagaraj, who heads the pro-Kannada umbrella group Kannada Okoota which called the bandh, thanked public and private organisations for their observance of the bandh and claimed it was “total” across Karnataka. He said he visited different parts of the city Thursday morning.

Speaking to Press Trust of India, Deryk Natto, the managing director of Goa’s state bus service Kadamba Transport Corporation Limited, said, “The services to Karnataka have been suspended for a day due to the strike called by them. The services will resume once the strike is called off”. 23 buses bound to Karnataka were suspended.

Due to the strikes, traffic in Bangalore was lesser than usual. Unlike the case with buses, Namma Metro service in Bengaluru was functioning. A spokesperson of the metro service said, “If and only if there is a hindrance to safety of the passengers, we will inform the police and stop services.” Police arrested protestors at the KSR Bangalore Railway station who attempted to disrupt the railway facilities. 15000 police officials were assigned for security measures in Bangalore alone.

In Mysore, a number of shops were open at 10:30 AM, and there was usual traffic. Pharmaceutical shops remained open, however, some shops were closed. Protesters forced some shops to close, but classes in The National Institute of Engineering continued. Former Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappafew said a few days ago, “We fully support the Mahadayi project. There is no need for a bandh. Bandh is only needed in the areas where people are suffering.”

A person from Mangalore told Wikinews there was no effect of bandh in Mangalore, and some restaurants and hotels had posters, which roughly translate, “We feel sorry that you do not have water. But stop hurting our livelihood by organisining these bandhs” ^{((kn))Kannada language: ?????? ??????? ???? ??????. ????? ??? ??? ???? ???? ???? ??????? ???? ????????! ? ???? ???? ?? ???? ??????????}“.

A bandh is scheduled on February 4, when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to address a BJP rally in Bangalore.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, a vault containing millions of seeds from all over the world, saw its first deposits on Tuesday. Located 800 kilometers from the North Pole on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen, the vault has been referred to by European Commission president José Manuel Barroso as a “frozen Garden of Eden“. It is intended to preserve crop supplies and secure biological diversity in the event of a worldwide disaster.

“The opening of the seed vault marks a historic turning point in safeguarding the world’s crop diversity,” said Cary Fowler, executive director of the Global Crop Diversity Trust which is in charge of collecting the seed samples. The Norwegian government, who owns the bank, built it at a cost of $9.1 million.

At the opening ceremony, 100 million seeds from 268,000 samples were placed inside the vault, where there is room for over 2 billion seeds. Each of the samples originated from a different farm or field, in order to best ensure biological diversity. These crop seeds included such staples as rice, potatoes, barley, lettuce, maize, sorghum, and wheat. No genetically modified crops were included. (Beyond politics they are generally sterile so of no use.)

Constructed deep inside a mountain and protected by concrete walls, the “doomsday vault” is designed to withstand earthquakes, nuclear warfare, and floods resulting from global warming. Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg called it an “insurance policy” against such threats.

With air-conditioned temperatures of -18 degrees Celsius, experts say the seeds could last for an entire millennium. Some crops will be able to last longer, like sorghum, which the Global Crop Diversity Trust says can last almost 20 millenniums. Even if the refrigeration system fails, the vaults are expected to stay frozen for 200 years.

The Prime Minister said, “With climate change and other forces threatening the diversity of life that sustains our planet, Norway is proud to be playing a central role in creating a facility capable of protecting what are not just seeds, but the fundamental building blocks of human civilization.” Stoltenberg, along with Kenyan Nobel Peace Prize laureate Wangari Maathai, made the first deposit of rice to the vault.

“It is very important for Africa to store seeds here because anything can happen to our national seed banks,” Maathai said. The vault will operate as a bank, allowing countries to use their deposited seeds free of charge. It will also serve as a backup to the thousands of other seed banks around the world.

“Crop diversity will soon prove to be our most potent and indispensable resource for addressing climate change, water and energy supply constraints and for meeting the food needs of a growing population,” Cary Fowler said.

Thursday, July 7, 2005

Amid the confusion surrounding today’s London blasts, officials have urged the public to avoid the city if possible to allow emergency services to operate more quickly.

All rail and underground stations remain closed, although efforts are being made to reopen them. Air links are now closed at Stansted, Heathrow, Gatwick and London City airports.

Those trying to contact friends and family via mobile have struggled as the largest mobile networks, Vodafone, O2 and Orange, have all suffered from full capacity on several occasions this morning meaning voice calls failed.

On the web, websites such as BBC, TfL and the G8 2005 website struggled for a short time at one point this morning under the strain of so many web users visiting them. The national grid has said that it has sustained no damage to the electricity network.On the Traffic England site run by the Highways Agency, London has been marked as a ‘Closed area’.

The Royal Mail is warning customers that mail collections and deliveries across the UK will be disrupted because of the incidents. Royal Mail vehicles will not be moving in or out of London, or between Royal Mail sites in central London for the remainder of today. At least 25 per cent of the UK’s mail moves through London, even if its end destination is elsewhere. Disruption may therefore be felt throughout the UK. Royal Mail expects to issue further information later today.

Bus services in Zone 1 have resumed as of 16:00 BST.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board in the United States have issued an ‘urgent safety recommendation’ in connection to their role alongside the United Kingdom’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch in investigating loss of power in Rolls-Royce engines on Boeing 777s, with the AAIB following suit. One of them resulted in British Airways Flight 38 crashing short of the runway at London’s Heathrow Airport last year. The NTSB and the AAIB want Rolls-Royce to redesign the engines.

Both events occurred on Boeing 777-200ER airplanes powered by Rolls-Royce RB211 Trent 800 Series engines. On January 17, 2008 British Airways Flight 38 experienced a dual engine rollback (reduction of engine power) on final approach to Heathrow and crashed, leaving one passenger seriously injured, eight passengers and four of the flight crew with minor injuries and the airplane written off.

The second event occurred on November 26, 2008, when a Delta Air Lines Boeing 777 experienced a single engine rollback during cruise flight over Montana, United States while en route from Shanghai to Atlanta. Normal operations resumed after the flight crew followed Boeing’s published procedure to recover engine performance and the airplane landed safely in Atlanta.

Boeing has already developed new procedures after the crash to prevent ice from building up within their 777 fuel systems after it became apparent that icing may have been a factor, and it was some of these that the Delta flight crew had followed. Boeing modified these further after the Delta incident. As part of the recent releases by the NTSB and AAIB it has become apparent that investigators from both bodies, which are collaborating, have found ice buildup in the fuel system caused both rollbacks.

In both cases a build-up of ice (from water normally present in all jet fuel) developed on a component called the fuel/oil heat exchanger. This restricted the flow of fuel to the engine, resulting in the uncommanded engine rollback. Investigators initially struggled to produce enough ice under test conditions but have now found that at high concentration, fuel can form ice at very low temperatures in enough quantity to seriously restrict fuel flow, according to a new interim report by the AAIB. This does not occur when fuel demand is lower, as the hot oil then becomes sufficient to entirely melt the ice. The British jet experienced very low temperatures over Siberia.

The vigorous tests are thought to be the first of their kind. They have also confirmed that while ice may have formed elsewhere in the airliner’s fuel system fuel was probably not restricted at any other location. Instead, it is thought ‘soft’ ice formed in the pipes and then broke off, travelling to the fuel/oil heat exchanger and restricting it.

The NTSB has now revealed that they have advised Rolls-Royce to redesign the fuel/oil heat exchanger, and Rolls-Royce have stated that they are indeed working on a replacement part that will be available within twelve months. The AAIB advised Boeing and Rolls-Royce to jointly review the problem across the fuel system, and both companies responded that they ‘accepted’ this recommendation and repeated that a replacement part was being developed.

Both the NTSB and the AAIB also sent letters to the US Federal Aviation Administration and the European Aviation Safety Agency requesting the installment of the modified component be mandatory. The NTSB suggested this should be either the next maintenance check or within six months. There are 220 Boeing 777-200s – the only type using the affected engine – with Trent 800 series engines.

The fuel/oil heat exchanger is a dual purpose part designed to simultaneously melt fuel ice and cool down engine oil.

The AAIB further noted that it is unclear weather other aircraft designs are at risk, and advised the FAA and EASA to look into increased use of de-icing additives and investigate both the accumulation and sudden movement of ice in aircraft fuel systems and the actual formation of ice in the fuel itself.

Friday, March 13, 2020

On Sunday and Saturday evening, Australian store chains Woolworths and Coles lowered their purchase restrictions on toilet paper to two and one package per transaction in all stores on national level, respectively. ALDI also introduced a one-pack limit, on Monday. These limitations were posted as messages on the checkouts, and on the chains’ Facebook pages. Buyers were reportedly stocking up due to fears of COVID-19 in case people need to self-isolate. On Wednesday, Woolworths also limited toilet paper purchases for home delivery to one pack per order.

These changes followed the previous four-pack per transaction restriction introduced by Woolworths and Coles on March 4 and 5 respectively. Coles, in its March 8 media release, reported that with the four-pack restriction in place, “many stores are still selling out within an hour of delivery”, and called the demand “unprecedented”, while ALDI, in a Facebook post on Tuesday, called it “unexpected”. Sales went up in a “sharp increase” last week, according to a Woolworths spokesperson. Costco’s store in Canberra also limited the allowed amount to two packs last week.

To further alleviate the shortage, Coles ordered bigger packages from suppliers and increased delivery frequency, Woolworths ordered extra stock, while ALDI made stocks for a planned Wednesday special available early. Russell Zimmerman, executive director of the Australian Retailers Association, said that retailers try to raise stock, but local council restrictions on the timing of truck-deliveries make it hard. He expects rising production costs, as suppliers try to meet demand, and fewer specials. On Tuesday, ALDI announced that following the early release of stock, some stores can’t run the Wednesday special.

In a News.com.au report, Dr Gary Mortimer, retail expert from Queensland University of Technology, said the stores fill the stock every night. He remarked toilet paper is a bulky item, leading to low quantity of stocks in numbers, and, when sold out, leaves vast shelf spaces empty, hardening the feeling of a shortage. “Coles and Woolworths have a view [that] if there was plenty of stuff on the shelf, if product like toilet rolls and sanitiser could be [bought] and are there in quantities, you would probably minimise the panic” said Russell Zimmerman per ABC News.

Recycled toilet paper producer Who Gives a Crap said on last Wednesday they’d run out of stock. Kimberly-Clark, which makes Kleenex Toilet Tissue, and Solaris Paper which makes Sorbent, emphasized they were working 24/7 to maintain the supply, according to the News.com.au report.

Domain.com, a real estate site, reported some property sellers offering free toilet paper to the first bidder on auctions in Melbourne, when fewer auctions were held because of buyers having time off on the long weekend of Labour Day. The Thursday edition of NT News, a daily printed in Darwin, included an eight-page insert meant to be cut up and used as toilet paper.

The stores were originally reluctant to impose restrictions, according to a report from ABC Australia on March 3 in which they said they had no plans to introduce restrictions on the purchases.

Russell Zimmerman added that other products are also in high demand, including masks, sanitiser, dried goods, handwash and flour. Similarly, outside of Australia, on Sunday evening online British supermarket Ocado was observed limiting purchases of Andres toilet paper to two 12-roll packs.