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Archives for August 2015

Usain Bolt wins fourth straight 200 metres title at World Championships

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Usain Bolt

Beijing: Jamaica’s Usain Bolt ran the fastest time of the year in 19.55 seconds to win a record fourth straight world 200 metres title and sweep the individual sprints at a major global championships for a fifth time on Thursday.

Five days after beating Justin Gatlin to win the 100 metres, the 29-year-old Olympic champion and world record holder again proved too strong for in-form American, who finished second in 19.74.

Anasco Jobodwana took bronze in 19.87 for South Africa ahead of Panama’s Alonso Edward, who was awarded the same time but lost out on a medal by two 1,000ths of a second. Jobodwana’s time was 19.861 and Edward 19.863.

The victory gave Bolt a record-extending 10th world championship gold medal and he could yet win an 11th as part of Jamaica’s 4×100 metre relay team on Saturday. Bolt, who had only run one race at the distance coming into the championships after an injury disrupted season, once again produced the goods when it really mattered.

The 29-year-old got out of the blocks quicker than Gatlin on his inside and was already in front at the bend, where the American picked up speed and looked like he might threaten the champion.

Puffing his cheeks out and swinging his arms high, though, Bolt pounded down the home straight to victory, thumping his chest with his fist as he crossed the line. Bolt and Gatlin had only faced each other once before in a 200 metres race, at the 2005 world championships in Helsinki where the American claimed his first world title in the event and teenager Bolt finished last.

That was the year before Gatlin, having just matched the world record, tested positive for a banned substance for a second time and was suspended for four years.

Gatlin, 33, had gone unbeaten since 2013 in both sprints coming to Beijing and his was the world leading time that Bolt bettered to take the title. “Usain Bolt’s a legend, man,” said Britain’s Zharnel Hughes, who finished fifth in a personal best time of 20.02 at his first major championships.

“Even myself, I even doubted him a bit. But Bolt is phenonmenal. He knows what to do when it comes to major championships. All credit to him.” Turkey’s Ramil Guliyevs (20.11) was sixth ahead of Femi Ogunode of Qatar (20.27) with Bolt’s compatriot Nickel Ashmeade bringing up the rear in 20.33.

(Reuters)

Wipro launches ‘Wipro earthian’: A one of its kind Sustainability Education Program

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wipro-earthian

Bengaluru: Wipro Limited, a leading global information technology, consulting and business process services company, announced the launch of the fifth edition of ‘Wipro earthian’, a nationwide sustainability education program for schools and colleges.

This program provides an interconnected understanding of different disciplines in education related to ecological and social sustainability. It aims at long term education and learning that will help educators, students and educational institutions make more informed choices about their lives and society.

Over the last five years, Wipro reached out to more than 100,000 students from over 50,000 institutions across the country for this program. The program has consistently elicited encouraging responses from institutions and students as evidenced by the thousands of project submissions over the years. Each year, 10 schools and 10 colleges are shortlisted for the awards.

In the 2014 edition, Wipro reached out to around 10,000 students and received close to 600 submissions. The winning institutions were welcomed into the Wipro earthian community and awarded a trophy and cash prizes.

Wipro’s earthian provides a broad platform for interaction, followed by a more intense and continuing engagement program (CEP) for the winning teams. The program includes activities aimed at building skills, appreciating new attitudes and values to help shape a sustainable future. Wipro’s objective with CEP is to engage with these teams over a long period of time and help integrate sustainability education in a holistic way.

Some of the leading institutes in the country like Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (IIT-D), National Institute of Technology, Trichy (NIT-Trichy), Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB), Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode (IIMK), Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai (ICT Mumbai) have been regularly participating in this program. “The first part of solving a problem is to identify that there is a problem. What I really like about earthian is that it is trying to recognise that there is a problem,” said Sushant Bangru, student from IISc, Bangalore, one of the winning teams of Wipro earthian 2014.

Anurag Behar, Chief Sustainability Officer, Wipro Limited said, “This is a special year for Wipro earthian as we reflect on our five year journey. It has been an enriching experience where all of us, institutions, faculty and students have learnt together. Our vision and hope is to make Wipro earthian a unique platform that fosters understanding of how sustainability in education can be a powerful influence on our thoughts and actions.”

As an extension to the main Wipro earthian 2015 program, the company also introduced a new program, ‘Wipro earthian Foundations’ to introduce students in the age group of 9-13 years to the culture of sustainability. As part of this program, these students were invited to write and share stories about their experiences with nature. The two best stories in English and Hindi will be published with a foreword by noted author Ruskin Bond and actor Aamir Khan, respectively.

For more details on the program and for registration please visit: http://www.wipro.org/earthian/

NASA: World ‘locked into’ at least 3 feet of sea level rise

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Current satellite data reveals that glaciers ‘might not be as stable as we once thought’

Photo: NASA/Saskia Madlener

Photo: NASA/Saskia Madlener

by Andrea Germanos, Common Dreams

New research underway indicates that at least three feet of global sea level rise is near certain, NASA scientists warned Wednesday.

That’s the higher range of the 1 to 3 feet level of rise the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) gave in its 2013 assessment.

Sea levels have already risen 3 inches on average since 1992, with some areas experiencing as much as a 9-inch rise.

“Given what we know now about how the ocean expands as it warms and how ice sheets and glaciers are adding water to the seas, it’s pretty certain we are locked into at least 3 feet of sea level rise, and probably more,” said Steve Nerem of the University of Colorado, Boulder, and lead of NASA’s interdisciplinary Sea Level Change Team. “But we don’t know whether it will happen within a century or somewhat longer.”

The Greenland ice sheet has contributed more greatly to sea level rise, losing an average of 303 gigatons of ice a year over the past decade, while the Antarctic ice sheet has lost an average of 118 gigatons a year. But scientists at NASA and the University of California, Irvine warned last year that glaciers in the West Antarctic “have passed the point of no return.”

Glaciologist Eric Rignot of the UC-Irvine and NASA’s JPL, and lead author of the West Antarctic study, stated Wednesday that East Antarctica’s ice sheet remains a wildcard.

“The prevailing view among specialists has been that East Antarctica is stable, but we don’t really know,” Rignot stated. “Some of the signs we see in the satellite data right now are red flags that these glaciers might not be as stable as we once thought.”

Exactly how much rise will happen and when is uncertain, they say. “We’ve seen from the paleoclimate record that sea level rise of as much as 10 feet in a century or two is possible, if the ice sheets fall apart rapidly,” said Tom Wagner, the cryosphere program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “We’re seeing evidence that the ice sheets are waking up, but we need to understand them better before we can say we’re in a new era of rapid ice loss.”

Saudi troops enter northern Yemen after Houthi clashes

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Saudi commanders insist incursion into northern Yemen is temporary, as troops take up positions overlooking Jizan.

yemen-airstrike

by Al Jazeera

Saudi Arabian troops have crossed into northern Yemen for the first time since the conflict with Houthi rebels began in March.

Footage published on Wednesday showed soldiers taking positions in a mountainous area overlooking the southern Saudi province of Jizan.

Houthi shelling and rocket attacks on the border have killed dozens of Saudi soldiers, including a general on Sunday.

Saudi commanders insist the incursions are temporary.

A Saudi-led coalition has launched air strikes at rebel positions in Yemen but the the Houthis and their allies, soldiers loyal to the former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, insist they are still a capable fighting force.

The Houthis have posted video online of what they say are rebel commandos storming a Saudi border post.

The video shows the fighters capturing the building after heavy fighting and blowing up military vehicles, only to withdraw when Saudi fighter jets launched an air raid in the area.

In July, Popular Resistance fighters fighting on the side of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s forces expelled the Houthis and their allies from the southern port city of Aden, whose capture by the rebels sparked the aerial campaign by the Arab coalition.

More than 4,300 people have been killed in the conflict in Yemen, according to the UN, almost half of those civilians.

At least 50 people have died in Houthi attacks on positions inside Saudi Arabia.

Man kills self after deadly attack on US journalists

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President Obama mourns loss of Alison Parker and Adam Ward, who were shot dead by Vester Lee Flanagan while live on air.

Parker, left, was conducting an interview about tourism on Bridgewater Plaza in Franklin County before her and Ward were killed [WDBJ7]

Parker, left, was conducting an interview about tourism on Bridgewater Plaza in Franklin County before her and Ward were killed [WDBJ7]

by Al Jazeera

A man who shot dead a reporter and a cameraman for WDBJ7, a local CBS affiliate, live on air in the US state of Virginia has died of a self-inflicted wound in hospital.

Franklin County sheriff, Bill Overton, told a news conference on Wednesday that the suspect had died at Inova Fairfax hospital in northern Virginia.

Overton offered no motive for the shootings and said the investigation would be lengthy.

After leaving the scene, former WDBJ7 employee Vester Lee Flanagan, also known as Bryce Williams, crashed his car on the I-66 highway in Faquier County.

He was located by police and found to be suffering from a gunshot wound. Flanagan, 41, later died in hospital.

Earlier on Wednesday, live on air, shots could be heard in footage taken by WDBJ7 cameraman Adam Ward, 27, before he dropped to the ground.

Alison Parker, 24, who also died, was conducting an interview about tourism on Bridgewater Plaza in Franklin County before at least eight shots rang out. The woman being interviewed was also wounded in the attack.

‘I filmed the shooting’

US President Barack Obama told ABC 6 that it breaks his heart to hear “every time you read or hear about these kinds of incidents”.

“What we know is that the number of people who die from the gun related incidents around this country dwarfs any deaths that happen through terrorism,” Obama said.

Hours after the shooting, someone claiming to be Flanagan posted video online of the shooting that appeared to be from the shooter’s vantage point.

The videos were posted to a Twitter account and on Facebook by a man identifying himself as Bryce Williams, which was Flanagan’s on-air name.

The videos were removed shortly afterwards. One video clearly showed a handgun as the person filming approached Parker.

The person purporting to be Flanagan also posted “I filmed the shooting see Facebook,” as well as saying one of the victims had “made racist comments”.

Flanagan had sued another station where he worked in Florida, alleging he had been discriminated against because he was black.

ABC News reported on its website that it had received a 23-page fax from someone claiming to be Bryce Williams some time between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.

The network turned the fax over to authorities, it said, without giving details on its contents.

Indrani Mukherjea’s son fears he is the ‘next target’

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mikhail-bora

Guwahati: The son of Indrani Mukherjea, main accused in the Sheena Bora murder case, today said he feared for his life and could be the “next target” even as investigators were working to unravel the complexities in the case.

“I fear I’ll be the next target and, if the police summon me to Mumbai, I want my friends to accompany me as the Mukherjeas are very high-profile and anything can happen to me,” Mikhail Bora told reporters outside his grandparents’ house here.

He said the police had not contacted him so far, but if they did, he would cooperate with them in every possible way.

“The police have not contacted me so far but if they come to our house here, I’ll cooperate with them in every possible way to bring out the truth about my sister’s murder,” Bora said even as he hinted that a property angle may also be there in the case.

“If the police come today, I will give evidence to them right away… because she was my elder sister and I want justice for her,” he further said.

As investigators dug deeper into the murder case, a complex web of lies and relationships unravelled and it emerged that the deceased was Indrani’s daughter and not sister, as maintained earlier by her.

Intriguing claims also came to light that Indrani, 43, had introduced her daughter and son — from an earlier marriage to one Siddharth Das — as her sister and brother. After a missing complaint was lodged, Indrani claimed that Sheena had gone to the US for higher studies.

Mikhail also maintained that his mother had wanted him to give her his PAN card and bank details the last time she had come to Guwahati, but he had flatly refused to do so.
He said that he had tried to contact Sheena through his Facebook account but there was no reply. He had also found her mobile phone switched off.

“I asked my mother (Indrani) again and again (about Sheena) every time she called me. She said she (Sheena) was fine and that she was in the US,” Mikhail said.

He, meanwhile, said it would be difficult for him to go to Mumbai to help with the probe into his sister’s murder.

“It will not be possible for me to go to Mumbai for the investigation as I have to take care of my maternal grandparents who are both in their eighties and suffering from dementia,” he said.

He, however, said he could make the journey only if the police or government assured that they would take care of his grandparents, who he said were yet to be told about Sheena’s murder.

Indrani had left Sheena and Mikhail with her parents UK Bora and Durga Rani at their residence here before leaving for Kolkata, where she married Sanjiv Khanna, who has also been arrested for his alleged involvement in the case.

Mikhail had yesterday alleged that he knew the exact reason behind the murder, but would wait till Indrani made a confession to the police before saying anything.

If his mother did not confess, then he would do whatever was necessary, he had said.

(Agencies)

Sanjay Dutt gets fresh parole, this time for daughter’s surgery

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sanjay_dutt

Mumbai: Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt, who is currently serving a five-year term at Pune’s Yerawada Central Jail, has been granted a 30-day parole for tending to his daughter, who is to undergo nose surgery, official sources said here on Wednesday.

He had applied for the parole in June citing his daughter’s medical condition, which has been granted two days ago by the Pune Divisional Commissioner.

Aftre completing various formalities, including posting a surety bond, Dutt is likely to walk out of jail either later on Wednesday or Thursday and return to his Bandra home.

The 30-day parole is extendable by another 60 days.

Since he reported to the Yerawada Central Jail in May 2013, theMunna Bhai M.B.B.S. actor, who was convicted for illegal possession of arms in the March 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, has been out on parole for around four months.

Prior to this, in October 2013, Dutt had been released on medical furlough for 28 days, followed by another 28 days in December 2013 to tend to his ailing wife Manyata, 14 days parole in December 2014 and another 60 days from January 2014.

This had sparked off protests among various sections with allegations of preferential treatment meted out to him owing to his star status.

The Khalnayak star, who has given hits like Munna Bhai M.B.B.S., Vaastav: The Reality and Saajan, is currently serving the remaining 42 months of his five-year jail term.

(Agencies)

Patel quota row: Gujarat tense as death toll rises to nine

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patel-quota

Ahmedabad: The death toll in the violence across Gujarat has risen to nine on Thursday, as the Patel community continues its agitation demanding OBC status and reservation benefits.

The violence was triggered on Tuesday night by the brief arrest of Hardik Patel, the 22-year-old leader of the agitation. Mr. Patel called for a State bandh on Tuesday, a day of violence which saw protesters torching 100 buses and vandalising property. Six persons were killed in police firing and two in the rioting. One succumbed to injuries on Thursday.

The Army, which was called in on Wednesday to control the situation, staged flag marches in Ahmedabad and Surat on Thursday. About 113 companies of paramilitary forces have also been deployed in affected areas.

Schools and colleges in the State will remain shut today too. Mobile internet services, which was on the blink yesterday, will remain suspended today.

More than 50 trains have been cancelled or diverted as mobs damaged tracks at several places.

(Agencies)

Another Pakistani terrorist caught alive

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encounter-story

Srinagar: Another Pakistani terrorist was caught alive on Thursday following a fierce gunfight in Jammu and Kashmir’s Baramulla district, making him the second terrorist from Pakistan to be held this month.

The terrorist was identified as Sajjad alias Abu Ubadullah, 22, a resident of Muzaffargarh district of Balochistan, Pakistan, a senior police official said.

Sajjad was caught a little over three weeks after Pakistani terrorist Naveed was arrested on August 5 following a terror attack on BSF troopers on the Jammu-Srinagar highway. Naveed had taken three people hostage who overpowered him.

It was not immediately known how Sajjad was caught.

The gunfight started on Wednesday afternoon after the army intercepted a group of militants in Toot Mar Gali of Nowgam sector in Kupwara. They had sneaked into India from Pakistan.

Three separatist guerrillas were killed by the security forces on Thursday.

“The gunbattle is still going on,” a senior police officer told IANS.

The militants managed to break the cordon after being challenged by the army, triggering a gunfight on Wednesday on the Indian side of the Line of Control (LoC) that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan.

(IANS)

Nasheman.in interviews music composer & singer Abhishek Ray

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Abhishek Ray handles mainstream commercial & intellectual cinema with equal ease.

Abhishek Ray3

How did you manage to capture the spirit of ‘Welcome Back’?

Composing the theme song for ‘Welcome Back’ was a huge challenge as the film is a pot pourri of various powerful characters coming together to create a comical extravaganza of epic proportions. So the song had to capture the soul of the tapori (John Abraham), the dangerous (Nana Patekar & Anil Kapoor), the glamorous (Shruti Hasan), the fabulous (Ankita & Dimple Kapadia), the ferocious (Naseeruddin Shah) etc. So I came up with this unusual funk – jazz kind of melody which captures the quirky comedy of the film as well as the mafia element.

Besides composing music, you have sung the song too?

The title song needed a unique & fresh vocal timbre. It also needed a brazen, experimental jazz – blues kind of singing. Owing to my background in the jazz piano & western classical, this kind of singing comes naturally and everybody loved it. I wanted to avoid the cliche of overused playback voices. Sometimes they take away from the uniqueness of the song.

Abhishek Ray

Must have been a radical shift for you as a music composer from ‘Paan Singh Tomar’ to ‘Welcome Back’?

Unfortunately we live in times of mediocrity where one musician does only one repetitive kind of style and Bollywood is quick to recognize that and slot him. But the true quality of a film composer lies in versatility. He should have the knowledge & talent bank to capture the essence of the film and deliver a sound canvas accordingly. After composing & singing for national award winning films like ‘Paan Singh Tomar’ & ‘I Am Kalam’ and critically acclaimed films like ‘Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster’, ‘Yeh Saali Zindagi’, I felt the inner need to drift away and exhibit the mainstream commercial side of my melodies.

Abhishek Ray1

And how did you make this transition?

The trick I think is to hold on and have the power to say no. I had many film offers after ‘Paan Singh Tomar’ but did not pick up most of them. I waited patiently till Anees Bhai heard me and was gracious & kind to pick me up for such a gigantic production. There are very few directors in the industry who deviate from the obvious and show the courage & insight to introduce a radical sound in an extravagant mainstream production with 9 stars.

Abhishek Ray2

So do you think star power works for music?

For film music, invariably yes…Many people may be evasive on this but experience has taught me to be candid. Apart from composing good music, it is important to release that music on a robust platform. How well the director uses your music and what visuals carry it forward makes a world of difference. A lot of beautiful songs don’t reach out to the target audience due to lack of promotions and visibility. I have faced that far too often.

What about non – film music?

I was brought into the industry by Gulzar Saheb. I began my career with a solo album with Gulzar Saheb called “Udaas Paani”. This experimental album was a musical saga of poetic moods and did exceedingly well. The success of “Udaas Paani” led us to collaborate on another eclectic album called ‘Raat Chand Aur Main”. After that there was no stopping and in the last decade, I have sung & composed the prestigious “Amazing India” series for music today, “Ritu” the magic of the 6 Indian seasons, “Raga Rendezvous” etc. Being a hard core musician at heart, albums give me extreme satisfaction but unfortunately the current market scenario is too Bollywood specific. Most albums today don’t get to release & reach out respectfully today.

What are your inspirations in music?

Mother Nature and a constantly nomadic free – spirited lifestyle have been my greatest inspirations. I am crazy about exploring untamed places, wilderness areas, old dilapidated structures, remote villages & sagas of unusual human lives etc. Such places have an uncanny aura & silver notes of melodies come running to my mind like droplets of rain. I am an active wildlife activist and I am also a Government bona fide tiger & leopard tracker. I run my own wildlife conservation project near Corbett National Park called sitabaniwildlifereserve.com.

What films are you looking forward to?

I have done some soul – stirring songs for a film called ‘Marriage Anniversary’ featuring Nana Patekar & Mahie Gill. I have also composed for ‘Saat Uchchakey’ produced by Neeraj Pandey & Tigmanshu Dhulia’s ‘Yaara’. Apart from these which will release shortly, I am currently working on 4 interesting films with diverse subjects.

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