Presque la fin des photos de l'ete - Briancon

Avant que l'hiver n'arrive, retour sur le deuxieme sejour à Briancon en aout. Toujours agreable, au frais, dans la nature et au milieu des montagnes.

Nous avons pas mal grimpe, avec d'abord un retour au Rocher qui répond avec Virginie et Eric. Il y avait beaucoup plus de monde qu'en juillet, et un groupe pres de nous dans la zone d'initiation n'est pas passe loin d'un accident avec le decrochage d'un rocher.
Jolie 5c.

Balade au lac des Beyraudes avec Virginie, Eric et Mailys. Et Ruben, pour une fois.

Escalade au Rocher Baron. C'etait intéressant de continuer à découvrir de nouveaux sites, mais ce ne fut pas mon prefere.
Accès: 25 min de voiture dont 15 min sur une dirt road assez cahoteuse. Parking au pied des voies, quand meme.
Voies: du 3 au 7, mais avec la foule nous avons presque eu du mal à trouver des voies libres.
Exposition: sud, plein sud, avec peu d'ombrage, il faisait chaud.
Rocher de moyenne qualité, mais superbe 5c dans une fissure, très montagnarde.

Et pendant ce temps, Ruben profitait de la maison et du bac à sable.

Virginie et Eric sont venus nous rendre visite. Ruben et Mailys continuent à bien s'entendre.

Puis nous avons retrouvé Alix et sa fille Esther pour grimper au Rocher Maubert au-dessus du Monetier. Les cordées ont logiquement été Alix + Eric et Esther + moi. Esther a environ 10 ans et est plutot menue - "cela ajoute du piment à l'escalade" dixit Alix. En effet, pour grimper en tete...

Enfin escalade au Sapet avec Virginie et Eric. Pour une fois la marche d'approche a ete de pres de 15 min, ca change! Nous avons termine sur 'Impulsion', une jolie 6a+ - en French free climbing (=tirer sur la degaine) quand meme pour moi sur le pas difficile en tete.

Retour à Paris via le TGV d'Oulx. Nous n'avions toujours pas de piece d'identite pour Ruben, autre que le livret de famille.. Fort heureusement le policier qui devait contrôler nos papiers nous a juste demandé pour la forme si nous étions bien francais.

Low tech municipal staff, dengue cases & others

Some express news from Delhi...

From us: Busy, busy.. Eric has been traveling to Paris for a week in september, is just coming back from Mumbai, and will spend again some time in Paris in october. We are hosting a baby group for ayahs and babies every morning at home; Ruben loves having friends over although he is learning fast how not to share his favourite toys. As for me, work is picking up (even had a full work week), I have some other programmed activities (Seven cities, a really nice way to discover the city, and NGO-related activities), and busy I am indeed.  

One picture from last week end - on the Ganga river!

From the Indian Express today:

Not logged in: 'Tech-unsavy' municipal staff still won't learn computers.

I guess there must be more to the story, but it's pretty funny/ sad as it is described in the newspaper. Basically, staff members in the Tax property department refuse to learn how to use computers, arguing that they are more efficient in performing their task on paper. This is unfortunate for Delhi inhabitants, as most of the tax payers use the online payment option, and online payments have to be checked and validated by the Tax property department. "Since property tax collectors and office staff rely on manual records, they do not check the online entries. They often, inadvertently, send default notices to house owners. This leads to legal problems" explains BN Singh.
The solution? The South Municipal Corporation has hired 50 data entry operators..

Dengue count rises to 116, Health Minister meets civic agencies.

The total number of dengue cases in the city now stands at 116 and the city’s municipal corporations have been instructed to intensify anti-larval sprays and deploy more vehicles for fogging.
This is a higher count than last year, but senior Health department officials said the numbers were higher only because of better reporting. "All hospitals in Delhi have been directed to ensure accurate reporting of such cases."
116 cases of dengue in a city of 18 million inhabitants, and yet I know already of two confirmed cases around me.. 

Peak hour free ride to stay till Oct 8

The Delhi-Gurgaon expressway is a toll-road operated under a public-private partnership contract by Delhi Gurgaon Super Connectivity Limited (DGSC). It is the largest toll plaza in India, with 32 collection lanes. DGSC is a joint venture between an Indian company and Egis, the big French engineering firm. The contract is a big PPP, and is quite interesting to look at as PPPs are being pushed by the government.
Well, the company has been running into significant issues since the beginning of the contract, the last of which being that the Punjab and Haryana High Court imposed a stay on toll collection early september. The motive was that the traffic jams at the toll were getting bigger than the allowed limit in the concession contract.
DGSC has been allowed to collect again toll off-peak hours, but still is not allowed to collect during rush hour.

At least 29 per cent in Delhi do not know about RTE Act: Survey

 A study on the status of the education of the girl child has revealed that 29 per cent of the respondents in the city are unaware about the Right to Education Act. The Act, approved in 2009, makes education a fundamental right of every child between the ages of 6 and 14 and specifies minimum norms in elementary schools. It requires all private schools to reserve 25% of seats to children from poor families. It also prohibits all unrecognized schools from practice, and makes provisions for no donation or capitation fees and no interview of the child or parent for admission.


Writer forges PM's signature to get MEA to buy his book, held

Ramesh Nirmal Jain was arrested on Wednesday on allegedly sending a letter to the Ministry of External Affairs with a forged signature of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, recommending that the ministry purchase 250 copies of his book Cultural History and Tourism in India. The cost: Rs 25-30 lakh (around 40000 euros?!).