Author Archives: Arun Kumar N

About Arun Kumar N

Arun has been associated with India International Times since 2018 and he has been a key reporter in covering science and space related stories. He can be reached at arunKnn@indiainternationaltimes.com.

President Condemns Attack on Amarnath Yatris in Jammu and Kashmir

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President Pranab Mukherjee has strongly condemned the terrorist attack on Amarnath Yatris in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir last night, in a message sent to N.N. Vohra, Governor of Jammu and Kashmir.

The President has said, “I am deeply shocked and anguished to learn about the cowardly attack on Amarnath Yatris in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir in which a number of innocent pilgrims lost their lives and several others were injured. Such senseless acts of terrorism targeting innocent lives is an attack on the democratic values of society and deserve to be universally condemned. They must be met with determination and collective action.”

He noted that necessary steps are being taken to provide all possible aid to the bereaved families who have lost their near and dear ones as well as medical assistance to the injured.

The terror attack on Amarnath yatra pilgrims last night, Monday July 10, 2017 was reportedly carried out by the Lashkar-e-Taiba and was masterminded by a Pakistani terrorist Ismail, said Jammu and Kashmir’s inspector general of police Muneer Khan to ANI.

Seven Amarnath pilgrims from Gujarat were killed in the attack and 14 others were injured in the attack.

Ravi Shastri Appointed India Cricket Team Coach

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Following intense melodrama over Anil Kumble’s strict disciplinarian approach, India team has got what it wanted, Ravi Shastri who has been associated with India cricket team either officially or unofficially till now.

Former India allrounder and captain Ravi Shastri served as team director from August 2014 to April 2016. His appointment came close on the heels of Anil Kumble’s resignation owing to captain Virat Kohli’s reported objections. Kohli denied reports of any rift with Kumble.

Shastri will serve as head coach for a two-year period until the end of the 2019 ICC World Cup and BCCI has sought inputs from Virat Kohli before making the appointment. Saurav Ganguly and VVS Laxman were present while Sachin Tendulkar joined via video conference from the UK.

Ravi Shastri on Twitter Page of his account

Virender Sehwag was also one of the applicants. Shastri’s close association with the team when he was team director for an 18-month period paved teh way for his selection this Shastri played 80 Tests and 150 ODIs and led India in one Test.

Shastri was initially reluctant but applied for the post only when the last date was extended by the BCCI until July 9. Other applicants included former India opener Virender Sehwag, former Sri Lanka coach and current coach of IPL franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad Tom Moody, current Afghan team coach Lalchand Rajput and former Pakistan and Bangladesh coach and director of West Indies cricket Richard Pybus.

India, US, Japan Joint Exercise ‘Malabar’ Begins in Bay of Bengal

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The 21st edition of Naval exercise between India, US and Japan, MALABAR 17 series of exercises, initiated in 1992 between the Indian and US Navies, joined by Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF) will begin in the Bay of Bengal from 10 to 17 July 2017. It takes centre-stage in view of the escalating tensions between India and China over trijunction or the Chicken neck border of Bhutan.

The primary aim of this exercise is to increase interoperability amongst the three navies and the MALABAR-17 includes wide-ranging professional interactions during the Harbour Phase at Chennai from 10 to 13 July 2017 and a diverse range of operational activities at sea during the Sea Phase from 14 to 17 July 17.

The thrust of exercises at sea this year would be on Aircraft Carrier operations, Air Defence, Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW), Surface Warfare, Visit Board Search and Seizure (VBSS), Search and Rescue, Joint Manoeuvres and Tactical procedures. In addition, officials from the three countries will be flown onboard the ships at sea on 15 July 2017.

The Indian Navy will be represented by the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya with its air wing, guided missile destroyer Ranvir, indigenous stealth frigates Shivalik and Sahyadri, indigenous ASW corvette Kamorta, missile corvettes Kora and Kirpan, one Sindhughosh class submarine, fleet tanker INS Jyoti and Long Range Maritime Patrol Aircraft P8I.

The US Navy will be represented by the ships from the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group and other units from the US 7th Fleet. The US Navy forces will include the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier Nimitz with its air wing, Ticonderoga-class cruiser Princeton, Arleigh Burke-class destroyers Kidd, Howard and Shoup along with integral helicopters, a Los Angeles-class attack submarine and one Long Range Maritime Patrol Aircraft P8A.

The exercise will also witness a separate interaction between IN and USN Special Forces and Explosive Ordnance Disposal teams at the IN MARCOS training base INS Karna at Visakhapatnam. The JMSDF will be represented by JS Izumo, a helicopter carrier with SH 60K helicopters and JS Sazanami, a missile destroyer with SH 60K integral helicopter.

MALABAR-17 will be another milestone with participation of 16 ships, two submarines and more than 95 aircraft, towards strengthening mutual confidence and inter-operability as well as sharing of best practices between the Indian, Japanese and US Navies.

“The exercise is a demonstration of the joint commitment of all three nations to address common maritime challenges across the spectrum of operations and will go a long way in enhancing maritime security in the Indo-Pacific region, for the benefit of the global maritime community,” said a statement.

How Govt Defends 12% GST on Sanitary Napkins?

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Amid growing anger against imposing GST of 12% on sanitary napkins, the government defended the move saying the tax incidence on this item before and after GST is the same or less.

“Sanitary napkins are classifiable under heading 9619. In pre-GST, they attracted concessional excise duty of 6% and 5% VAT and, the pre-GST estimated total tax incidence on sanitary napkins was 13.68%. Therefore, 12% GST rate had been provided for sanitary napkin,” said a statement.

Major raw materials for manufacture of sanitary napkins and applicable GST rates on them are as under:

a) 18% GST rate

o Super Absorbent Polymer

o Poly Ethylene Film

o Glue

o LLDPE– Packing Cover

b) 12% GST rate

o Thermo Bonded Non-woven

o Release Paper

o Wood Pulp

As raw materials for manufacture of sanitary napkins attract GST of 18% of 12%, even with 12% GST on sanitary napkins, there is an inversion in the GST structure. Though, within the existing GST law such accumulated ITC will be refunded, it will have associated financial costs such as interest burden and administrative cost, putting them at a dis-advantage vis-à-vis imports, which will also attract 12% IGST on their imports, with no additional financial costs on account of fund blockage and associated administrative cost of refunds, said the government.

If the GST rate on sanitary napkins were to be reduced from 12% to 5%, it will further accentuate the tax inversion and result in even higher accumulated ITC, with correspondingly higher finical costs on account of fund blockage and associated administrative cost of refunds, putting domestic manufacturers at even greater dis-advantage vis-à-vis imports, it stated.

Reducing the GST rate on sanitary napkins to Nil, will however, result in complete denial of ITC to domestic manufacturers of sanitary napkins and zero rating imports. This will make domestically manufactured sanitary napkins at a huge dis-advantage vis-à-vis imports, which will be zero rated, defended the government.

President, PM Condole Naresh Chandra’s Death

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President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have condoled the passing away of Naresh Chandra, former civil servant and served as ambassador to the US.

In a message to his niece Mrs. Vatsala Kumar, the President said, “I am sad to learn about the demise of Shri Naresh Chandra. As an outstanding IAS officer, Shri Chandra served the nation in various capacities including Cabinet Secretary, Government of India, Governor of Gujarat and Ambassador of India to the United States of America.”

Naresh Chandra was awarded ‘Padma Vibhushan’ in 2007, noted the President and remembered his valuable services to the nation in various capacities, which he said would always be remembered. “Please accept my heartfelt condolences and convey the same to the members of your family. May you all have the strength to bear this irreparable loss with courage and fortitude,” said the President.

Prime Minister Modi said, “Shri Naresh Chandra was an outstanding public servant, who left an indelible mark on matters of governance and policy. Pained by his demise. I remember an insightful discussion with Naresh Ji, who as USA ambassador invited me for dinner. He believed in strong India-USA friendship.”

As Indian ambassador to the US, he will always be remembered for the establishment of Gandhi Memorial – Mahatma Gandhi’s statue – in front of Indian Chancery building in Washington DC, which was accomplished against heavy odds on 16 September 2000. He described it as a great moment – for South Asians and Americans. “I also received many messages from our friends in Pakistan – and the Pakistan Ambassador congratulated me and expressed her happiness at the establishment of the statue,” he once said.

He was instrumental in managing President Bill Clinton’s visit to India that paved the way for increased exchange of visits and relations between the two countries.

 

Ahmadabad Joins 36 UNESCO’s World Heritage Properties in India

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The “Historic City of Ahmadabad” has figured on UNESCO’s World Heritage list on 8th July, 2017 during the 41st Session of World Heritage Committee, which makes the walled city of Ahmedabad the first city in India and the third in Asia to be inscribed to the World Heritage List.

In the past 3 years alone, India has managed to put five built heritage sites on the world heritage list of UNESCO. India now has overall 36 World Heritage Inscriptions with 28 Cultural, 07 Natural and 01 Mixed site. While India stands second largest in number after China in terms of number of world heritage properties in ASPAC (Asia and Pacific) region, it is overall seventh in the world.

Founded in 15th century, the walled city of Ahmadabad, on the eastern bank of the Sabarmati river, has a rich architectural heritage with 28 ASI Centrally Protected Monuments. The urban structures of the historic city of Ahmedabad are distinctive due to their puras (neighbourhoods), pols (residential streets), and khadki (inner entrances to pols) largely made of timber.

The historic architecture reflects symbols and myths connected with its inhabitants. The urban fabric is made up of densely-packed traditional houses (pols) in gated traditional streets (puras) with characteristic features such as bird feeders, public wells and religious institutions. It is a unique example of multi-religious and multicultural coexistence.

The inscription has been done under Criteria (ii) and (v) as defined in the UNESCO’s Operational Guidelines, 2016. Criterion (ii) refers to the important interchange of human values, over a span of time on development of architecture, monumental arts, town planning and landscape while Criterion (v) refers to being an outstanding example of human settlement and land use.

The international recognition to the city is expected to boost the local economy, giving it a tremendous fillip to domestic and international tourism leading to increased employment generation, creation of world-class infrastructure and augmentation of sale of local handicrafts, handlooms and heritage memorabilia.

No Life Possible Due to UV Radiation on Mars, Finds New Study

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When NASA scientists declared that finding alien organism on Mars surface is a possibility soon, they were not sure about the perchlorate effect.

Now that new research has found that the bacteria exposed to UV-activated perchlorate were killed within minutes, may change their perception about the possibility of life in the form of any organism, forget about the bacteria.

Perchlorate found in the Martian soil in 2008 can lower the freezing point of water substantially keeping it stable for several hours each summer day.

But the latest research by Jennifer Wadsworth and Charles Cockell from the University of Edinburgh, found that perchlorate gets activated by ultraviolet (UV) light, similar to the conditions which exist on the Martian surface, thus killing any form of living organism immediately.

When the researchers killed Bacillus subtilis, a form of bacteria with perchlorate at same concentration found on the Martian surface, within 30 seconds. Those which are exposed to non-UV radiation but only perchlorate were found to remain viable for at least an hour. Since bacteria died instantly when exposed to perchlorate and UV radiation, the support system for any life organism on Mars is ruled out, they argue.

“The mere presence of liquid water seeps, thought to be good locations to search for life, does not imply environments fit for life,” said researchers. The study was published in the journal Nature Scientific Reports.

Unless we find conditions which are not exposed to perchlorate and UV radiation, we cannot find alien life on Mars, concluded researchers dashing off any hope of NASA or other astro-physicists who had hoped to find one soon.

It remains to be seen whether SpaceX founder Elon Musk will change the schedule to send the first batch of enthusiasts to Mars next decade.

Indian Railways Pondering ‘Subsidy’ Give Up Scheme on Tickets

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Indian Railways wants to emulate the example of “Give it Up” campaign that was behind 1 crore people giving up their subsidized gas connections before it was made mandatory for all those above the income level of Rs.10 lakhs per annum.

A senior railway official said the ministry is pondering the possibility of similar appeal that can dissuade those who can afford to forfeit claim for subsidy in travel tickets.

“Passengers will have the option to forgo either 100 per cent of the subsidy or 50 per cent or to avail of the subsidy. It will be a voluntary decision,” said the official.

The idea surfaced when a passenger Krishen Kher returned Rs.950 subsidy for his trip sending a cheque to online reservation entity IRCTC. It hit upon them that many people may come forward to renounce any subsidy and save the differential amount of the actual fare, which comes to 57 per cent of each ticket and 40% on suburban rail tickets.

The annual subsidy comes to around Rs.30,000 crore for the Railways. “We expect people who are well off to forgo the subsidy, as details of this are already printed on tickets,” said the official.

The ministry has recently roped in the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy on undertaking efforts to reduce its subsidy burden, following the 2015 Bibek Debroy committee report to go corporate way. In 2016-17 Indian Railways had posted its worst ever operating ratio in 16 years at 96.9 per cent.

Another international consultancy has been asked to design a performance index to measure the country’s largest transportation entity and public sector undertaking (PSU) instead of operating ratio.

If performance comes into reckoning, then railways should increase their frequency of trains on profitable routes and limit them on unprofitable routes. Secondly, the government officials and representatives will have to forfeit their subsidized ticket fares for higher class travel.

Many committees had commissions have recommended Indian Railways to go the corporate way but the Indian government is unable to implement them in view of backlash and huge ticket-less travel reported in states such as Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh.

NEET Counselling Dates Revised After SC Nod

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The counselling date of National Eligibility cum Entrance Test or NEET 2017 have been revised after the Supreme Court’s nod to the Medical Counsel of India.

The first round of NEET 2017 Counselling for All India quota will have to be completed by July 12, while the court has given time till August 28 for the entire admission to MBBS, while for BDS seats by September 10.

The revised schedule will be available on mcc.nic.in. The registration for 15% All India Quota and AFMC started from 12 Noon of 03/07/2017 and new registration facility for Deemed Universities/Central Universities and ESIC from 12 Noon of 05/07/2017, said the website.

After a prolonged delay over the court cases, the results of NEET 2017 was declared on June 23 and the sounselling process was being delayed in turn. For the second round of counselling, fresh set of seats are added to the system depending upon the latest approvals of MCI/DCI (increase in admission capacity of existing Medical/Dental College/ starting of new
Medical/Dental college).

“Further, the conversion of seats is also carried out during the round-2 of seat allotment and accordingly, the candidates are required to be shown all choices (seats available and likely to be available) which
are against vacant, newly added seats, virtual vacancies which are likely to get vacated during up-gradation and also during the conversion of seats,” said MCI in its post on the official website for counselling.

“If candidate allotted seat fails to join the allotted college/seat within stipulated time, before last date of joining (as per counseling schedule), the allotted seat will be cancelled and candidate shall not be eligible to take part in further Rounds of the online Counseling,” said the notification by MCI.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Move Over Pellets or Tear Gas, Here is ‘Stink Bomb’ to Disperse Protesters

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Indian security forces are contemplating using stink bomb instead of usual pellet guns or other deterrents to mob stone pelting practise and tests are underway on some prototypes.

The Guinness Book of Records has listed two stink bombs – US Government Standard Bathroom Malodor with a mixture of eight chemicals resembling human feces smell while the other titled “Who me?”, is a mixture of five sulfur-related chemicals and smells like rotting food and dead bodies. Usually, harmless stink bombs use ammonium sulfide, which smells like rotten eggs.

The Kannauj-based Indian Fragrance and Flavour Development Centre (FFDC) has proposed a “stink bomb” that can burst to emit smoke with a “stinking” odour that can put off the stone pelters and keep them leave the place in disgust.

Currently, the other effects of such stink bomb are under evaluation and the FFDC is testing the impact on health when people breathe the bad odour from the burst of a stink bomb.

A report by ANI said the minister of state for Micro Medium and Small Industries (MSME) Giriraj Singh had asked the Defence Ministry to review the stink bomb and provide necessary guidelines and approval.

The Defense Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is likely to conduct tests and certify on its use or improvements before using it on people. Israel and the United States are also developing stink bombs as riot control and area denial weapons.

 

JEE Counselling for IITs Stopped Over PIL

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The IIT-JEE (Advance) 2017 counselling process for IIT admissions has been restrained by the Supreme Court following a PIL alleging that the bonus marks were wrongly awarded to candidates.

The bench of Justices Dipak Misra and A M Khanwilkar passed orders restraining counselling for admissions to the IITs which was supposed to begin on Friday. The plea by some students had pointed out that there were was an error in the Hindi version of the question papers of chemistry and mathematics.

Grace marks were given to all candidates irrespective of whether the student attempted the question or not. They pleaded that this was unfair and affected their prospects. The bench has also restrained high courts from entertaining any petition related to the issue.

Out of 36,000 seats in 97 institutes, 29,425 candidates have accepted the allotted seats so far. The joint admission board of the IITs told the court that a committee of experts had decided to give bonus marks and any delay at this after evaluating all options.

The board was also apprehensive that a judicial intervention at this stage would create hurdles to the entire admission process.

Heavy Rains to Lash Out Assam, Meghalaya This Weekend: Indian Met Agency

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Indian Meteorlogical Department has issued heavy to very heavy rains in nothern and north-eastern and eastern states of Uttarakhand, East Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Sub­ Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura.

Here is the weather forecast issued by IMD for the week starting from July 7, 2017 to July 11, 2017:

07JULY(Day1):♦ Heavy to very heavy rain very likely at isolated places over Assam & Meghalaya; heavy at isolated places over Uttarakhand, East Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Sub­ Himalayan West Bengal & Sikkim, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram & Tripura.

08JULY(Day2):♦Heavy  to very heavy rain very likely at isolated places with extremely heavy at isolated places over Assam Meghalaya; heavy at isolated places over Uttarakhand, East Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Sub Himalayan West Bengal & Sikkim, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram &Tripura.

09JULY(Day3):♦Heavy to very heavy rain very likely at isolated places with extremely heavy at isolated places over Assam & Meghalaya; heavy to very heavy at isolated places over Sub­ Himalayan West Bengal & Sikkim; heavy at   isolated places over Uttarakhand, East Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram &Tripura.

10July(Day4):♦Heavy to very heavy rain very likely at isolated places over Uttarakhand, Sub Himalayan West Bengal & Sikkim, Assam & Meghalaya; heavy at isolated places over Himachal Pradesh, East Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Gangetic West Bengal, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram & Tripura and Kerala.

11July(Day5):♦Heavy to very heavy rain very likely at isolated places over Himachal Pradesh; heavy at isolated places over Uttarakhand, West Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Sub­ Himalayan West Bengal & Sikkim, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram &Tripura, Konkan & Goa and Coastal Karnataka.

 

Team Indus Pitches for $40 Mln Funding to Emerge as India’s Equivalent of SpaceX

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Team Indus, the only Indian team competing for the Google Lunar XPRIZE, wants to go beyond the challenge and emerge as India’s equivalent of SpaceX, US private space company, with an eye on additional fund-raising to the tune of $40 million in the next round.

With its lunar rover mission launch set for December aboard ISRO’s PSLV rocket, Team Indus wants to expand its operational capabilities in launching and managing communication satellites.

The $30M Google Lunar XPRIZE challenge is a global competition to inspire engineers and entrepreneurs to develop low-cost methods of robotic space exploration by a privately funded team. The team must successfully place a robot on the Moon that explores at least 500 meters and transmits high-definition video and images back to Earth.

Team Indus has already raised $20 million in its first round from the country’s top investors such as Ratan Tata, Nandan Nilekani, Sachin Bansal, Binny Bansal, Subrata Mitra and Shekhar Kirani. The next round of funding will be utilized for expansion of its North Bangalore facility to undertake more space launches, said Team Indus founder Rahul Narayan.

The upcoming mission will carry its rover and 11 other payloads from Japan, France and UAE in the moon-laning mission. The spacecraft is under development at National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) and the final assembly will be done at the Team Indus facility in North Bengaluru.

Elaborating on their moon landing mission, Narayan told TOI: “ISRO’s Chandrayaan 1 was an orbital mission, while our spacecraft has to land on the Moon.” The flight testing of the spacecraft and payloads will be done at ISRO’s facility, before the final launch, he said.

Since ISRO is planning to employ a private launch vehicle by 2020, Team Indus sees imense potential and emerge as the country’s top private spacecraft manufacturer. “We see ourselves augmenting ISRO’s capacities, not capabilities,” Narayan said.

Team Indus is among the five teams to have been awarded a combined $5.25 million in recognition of “key technological advancements toward their quest to land a private spacecraft on the surface of the moon,” said the Xprize Foundation. The successful landing will get the team the final prize amount of $15 million.

Peter Diamandis, Lunar XPRIZE founder, while announcing the prize, said:”It has been many decades since we explored the Moon from the lunar surface, and it could be another 6–8 years before any government returns. Even then, it will be at a large expense, and probably with little public involvement.”

While the ideas initially mooted by Peter Diamandis, NASA was facing budget constraints, he approached Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, at an X Prize Foundation fundraiser and they agreed to sponsor it, and raise the amount of the prize money to $30 million, including a second prize, besides some bonus prizes. However, it was brought down to $15 million later.

 

 

 

Challenging Summer for Green Card Holders?

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This is going to be one of the most difficult summers ever for US Green Card and visa holders in all categories as few foreigners are aware of impact from the Presidential Order 13768, said Steven Riznyk, lead immigration attorney.

Under the Order, anyone who has any kind of a criminal record, or has even been charged but not convicted is a priority for removal or previously called deportation. Many people leaving for vacation have no idea they will not be returning home to their careers and families, he noted.

Steven Riznyk cautions that people with careers, jobs, homes, cars, and children who leave the United States will most likely not be able to re-enter for approximately 8 months’ time citing the draconian Presidential Order 13768.

“It is a very dangerous provision. A simple shoplifting charge can keep someone out of the United States,” said Riznyk. Unless a visa or Green Card holder applies for a waiver to ask the government to overlook a charge or conviction and has it approved, he or she will most likely not be able to re-enter after their vacation is over.

Mr Riznyk said he has received a number of calls from people all over the world who have been denied re-entry into the United States, feeling it was an error. With few immigration lawyers qualified to create waivers, he said not all immigration offences qualify for waivers.

Some waivers are only for visa holders, and not available for Green Card holders. It takes, on average, 8 months to be able to re-enter after filing a waiver, which itself takes 3-4 weeks to prepare, he said.

Once a foreigner is outside the country, he or she will not be able to enter, even while waiting for the results of the waiver. For people in the United States on a student visa or with a serious career and family obligations, this situation can be extremely destructive, he said.

Japan Behind Amelia Earmart Disappearance in 1937? Not Convincing!

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First woman pilot Amelia Earhart who disappeared in her 1937 flight around the world still remains a mystery. Eighty years after, on July 4, 2017, when the United States was celebrating its Independence Day, news channels are abuzz with new evidence blaming Japan for her disappearance.

A newly surfaced photo from the National Archives shows Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan with a lable “Jaluit Atoll,” an area in the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean, with the Japanese ship Koshu in the background.

“We have no evidence anywhere that she crashed into the ocean, even though that’s been the common narrative for so many years,” Shawn Henry, former FBI officer, told Today Show. “I think we have a lot of evidence that she lived and survived in the Marshall Islands.”

The photo was discovered while working on a project for History Channel special “Amelia Earhart: The Lost Evidence,” and the project producer Gary Tarpinian alleged in the TV show that the Japanese took Pilot Amelia Earhart to Saipan in the Mariana Islands and imprisoned her until death.

Earhart was last seen on July 2, 1937, taking off from New Guinea to travel to Howland Island as part of her Around the World Flight. The theory put forward by the makers of the documentary for History Channel is that the aircraft crashed and both Earhart and Noonan were captured alive by the Japanese and held them caprive for spying.

However, the evidence of a photo unearthed from the American Archives is not convincing. Had it been from the Japanese archives, then there is a story to be excited about. Contrary to the Marshal Islands story, a representative from the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery, told The New York Times that they believe Earhart landed on the island of Nikumaroro after sending distress signals and was ultimately stranded.

The History Channel crew, however, suggest that Japan hand behind Earhart’s disappearance may have been covered up by government officials though it holds no strong connection. Why should government officials hold back the truth? Earhart was neither a spy nor a political leader worth ransom for the Japanese to confine her.

Secondly, neither US nor Japan had any inclination to capture citizens, let alone imprison them on spying charges as no signs of World War Two were prevalent as of July 1937.

Thirdly, Japan had no strong reason to imprison Earhart secretly for so long as it could have established her identity easily in a month or two and returned her. Moreover, Japan was totally pre-occupied with its adventures in Manchuria to bother about the American presence in Marshall Island.

But for a July 4th show, it’s worth watching.

Job Loss Bigger Blow Than Divorce: Study

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In a new research for Bloomberg, the University of East Anglia and the What Works Center for Wellbeing, an independent body set up by the U.K. government, have revealed that it is worse to loose a job than loosing a spouse in a divorce.

The shock from the fact of getting fired in a job is more painful and impacts on mental health, self-esteem and satisfaction with life, said the data. Unemployment hovers around for years to come and people continue to become increasingly unhappy over the next few years, it said.

“After someone loses a partner, take a big dip and then, on average, it’ll get back to previous levels. But with unemployment, we just don’t see that happening,” said Tricia Curmi of the What Works Center for Wellbeing.

While it took two years to get over loss of spouse, job loss could torment them for more than four years, and men are more vulnerable to mental depression than women from this shock, pointed out the study.

“To have meaning in your life in this society means to be working, contributing, and to have that status,” Curmi said. It is not merely the salary but also the social mixing at the workplace and support from co-workers which keeps men going at the workplace than at home or leading a solo lifestyle.

Extroverts may bounce back quickly but incase of introverts, the suffering will last longer even for years, said another report. Many people who seek divine inspiration get to overcome such problems, Curmi said. “People who regularly attended church had a buffering effect from the impact of unemployment,” she noted.

West Bengal Governor Threatened Me, Alleges Mamata Banerjee

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The communal riots in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district on Tuesday night over a Facebook post have resonated in Raj Bhavan.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi in a meeting in Raj Bhavan had “threatened” her over the communal clashes and described his behaviour like “a BJP block president” and not as governor. Tripathi, a former BJP veteran, served as Speaker of Uttar Pradesh Assembly and was appointed West Bengal governor in 2014.

The Raj Bhawan in its explanation said, “the Hon’ble Governor cannot remain a mute spectator of the affairs in the state.” It added further saying, “The talks between the Hon’ble chief minister and the Hon’ble governor were confidential in nature and none is expected to disclose it.”

Baduria in Basirhat sub-division of West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district witnessed a mob fury over the arrest of a person. Shops in Keosha market, Banshtala, Ramchandrapur and Tentulia markets were shut down over the clashes, the police said.

However, after her meeting with the governor, Mamata said she felt offended that “I once even thought of leaving (quitting as chief minister)”. She told media: “Someone had posted something objectionable on Facebook. He was arrested. Where is the fault of my government.”

“I told police to stop it. They should have blocked the Facebook account. But, how many Facebook accounts can be blocked? If the police had opened fire, 200 people would have been killed.”

Lady Gaga Comes to Ed Sheeran’s Rescue over Twitter Saga

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The singer and song writer Ed Sheeran had a harrowing time for his remarks published in a na interview in “The Sun” magazine on Monday. The singer had said he would cease to be active on Twitter, the social media platform in a huff until Lady Gaga herself came to his rescue.

In her typical rescue mission, Lady Gaga shared her support for Ed Sheeran. “What an incredible talented artist I LOVE ED @edsheeran deserves all our love and respect like all humans do,” she said in her Instagram post.

“I wish all people on the internet would be positive and loving and apart of creating an online community that is kind and empowering, not hateful and mean. No reason to tear down an artist simply because they are on top. Work harder to be kinder everybody. That should be your first duty to humanity,” she said, showing the singer what humility means despite stardom.

Sheeran, the “Shape of You” singer, was not new to making accusatory remarks to media. In January, he told Beats Radio 1 that he would like not to be like other artists, indirectly hinting at the top Lady Gaga and others. “You’ve seen them become the biggest artists in the world, and then suddenly they will say, ‘I know everything!’ And just after, they are no longer at the top,” Sheeran said in the interview.

Soon the fans of Lady Gaga had set off a trolling tirade against the singer on Twitter and other social media, forcing him to get out of the Twitter blaming that the Twitter base was only assuming things and targeting him.

Sheeran, who is currently on tour in North America, said he would ask his team to communicate in general and on Twitter or his father would do the direct talk now. “I have people like my dad who will have a conversation with me,” he said. “I don’t have to have someone calling me a whatever.”

Sheeran, 26, rose to fame with in 2011 with his debut album and has since been certified seven-times platinum in the UK. The album contains the single “The A Team”, which earned him the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically. He also won the Brit Awards for Best British Male Solo Artist and British Breakthrough Act in 2012.

In the US, he made a guest appearance on Taylor Swift’s fourth studio album, Red and his “The A Team” was nominated for Song of the Year at the 2013 Grammy Awards, where he performed the song with Elton John.

His second studio album, x (read as “multiply”) in 2014 went on to become a big hit in the UK and the US. In 2015, x won the Brit Award for Album of the Year, and he received the Ivor Novello Award for Songwriter of the Year. His single from x, “Thinking Out Loud”, earned him two Grammy Awards in 2016 in categories of Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance.

Sheeran’s third album, ÷ (read as “divide”), released in March 2017, became a hit as number one in the UK, the US and other major markets. The first two singles from the album, “Shape of You” and “Castle on the Hill”, were released in January 2017 and broke records in a number of countries, including the UK, Australia and Germany.

India Cites Salahuddin’s Claim as Proof of State-Sponsored Terrorism

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In a response to the interview by global terrorist Syed Salauddin, the Pakistan-based self-styled head of the United Jihad Council and Chief of internationally designated terrorist organisation Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, telecast by a Pakistan TV Channel on 2 July 2017, India said it was a clear example of terrorists being given shelter in Pakistan.

The official Spokesperson said:”The brazen admission by Syed Salauddin of perpetrating terrorist attacks on India and having the capacity to carry out such attacks at any place and time in India is a further proof of Pakistan’s continuing policy of cross border terrorism.”

He said the confession affirms the complicity of Pakistan’s state mechanism in using terrorist proxies as a matter of policy against the neighbours. The interview clearly “highlights the unabashed manner in which terrorist organisations and leaders enjoy freedom of operations in Pakistan, including access to terror financing and procurement and supply of weapons for terrorism,” he said.

Indian spokesperson also said that it is a matter of deep regret that senior Pakistan functionaries continue to justify and defend the activities of such internationally designated terrorist entities and leaders. These terrorists are responsible for killing thousands of innocent civilians over the past three decades, he added.

“Pakistan must give up its policy of cross-border terrorism, fulfill its obligations under international resolutions and stop all activities of terrorists from the territory under Pakistan’s control,” sid the spokesperson in a ministry briefing.

India, Pakistan Exchange List of Prisoners as Per 2008 Agreement

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As part of the 2008 agreement, India and Pakistan have recently exchanged, through diplomatic channels, at New Delhi and Islamabad, the lists of nationals, including civil prisoners and fishermen of each country lodged in the jails of the other country.

The exchange of information is part of the provisions of the Agreement on Consular Access between India and Pakistan, which was signed on 21 May 2008. The agreement provides that a comprehensive list of nationals of each country lodged in other country’s jails has to be exchanged twice each year, on January 1 and July 1.

India’s External Affairs Ministry said in a statement, “India remains committed to addressing on priority all humanitarian matters with Pakistan, including those pertaining to prisoners and fishermen. In this context, we await from Pakistan confirmation of nationality of those in India’s custody who are otherwise eligible for release and repatriation.”

India has reiterated that Pakistan should grant full and early consular access to the Indian nationals lodged in the custody of Pakistan, including Hamid Nehal Ansari and Kulbhushan Jadav.
“India once again requests Pakistan for the early release and repatriation of Indian Prisoners, missing Indian defence personnel and fishermen along with their boats whose nationality has been confirmed by India,” said the statement.