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 reporter@sh003.global.temp.domains.
Machine vision in drones is similar to human vision and cannot see colours clearly owing to light reflection and day and night difference but bees are different with a third eye, said a new study suggesting revamp of vision techniques in cameras, robots and drones.
A Melbourne-based researchers team has studied how bees have three special eyes on top of their head, in addition to two main eyes at the front. “The three eyes point skyward, and they directly sample the colour of the light above us,” said Dr Adrian Dyer of RMIT University in Mebourne, Australia.
The bee brain knows what kind of lighting conditions are in the surroundings and adjust accordingly when looking for a flower. The ability to distinguish colours in day and night or in a cloudy sky allows bees to find the best flowers to collect food, said researchers.
The third eye of bees, called ocelli, contains two colour receptors that are perfectly tuned for sensing the colour of ambient light and the information is integrated with the colours seen by the two front eyes, they explained.
Dr. Jair Garcia, Professor Marcello Rosa and Associate Professor Adrian Dyer. CREDIT: Monash University
To prove this was happening, the researchers from RMIT University, Monash University, University of Melbourne and Deakin University mapped “neural tracings” sent from the ocelli, showing how they feed into the areas of the bee’s brain that processes colours.
The findings were being published in the scientific journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.
Extrapolating the findings, Dyer said a revamp of vision techniques in cameras, robots and drones will help deal with a major problem for machine vision – how to make reliable decisions when the colour of the light changes.
Based on a mathematical algorithm, drones can now fly around an orchid, even at night, and accurately detect the colour of different fruits. Same technique could be used by drones to inspect bridges or to analyse mineral sands, he suggested.
“These ideas have been around for a while, but the problem has been how to judge colour accurately,” Dr Dyer said.
President of India, Mr Pranab Mukherjee has extended his greetings and felicitations to the Government and people of the United States of America on the eve of their Independence Day (July 04, 2017).
In a message to Donald J. Trump, the President of the United States of America, the President has said, “On behalf of the Government, the people of India and on my own behalf, I extend warm greetings and felicitations to Your Excellency and to the people of the United States of America on the occasion of your nation’s Independence Day.”
The strategic partnership between the two nations – the world’s oldest democracy and the world’s largest democracy – is based on shared values and the growing convergence of our strategic interests, he noted and added, “Today, our multi-faceted strategic partnership spans almost every aspect of human activity and has a critical global significance.”
MrMukherjee also said that India attaches high priority to further expanding and deepening its relations with the United States in view of the recent visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the United States and his discussions with President Trump. He said the talks provided “greater opportunities for our two countries to take our mutually beneficial co-operation to greater heights in the years to come.”
I take this opportunity to convey to you our best wishes for your good health and well-being as well as for the continued progress and prosperity of the people of the United States of America”, said the Indian President.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India on Monday signed a $220 million loan for improving connectivity in Rajasthan building efficient state highways.
The loan is the first tranche of the $500 million Rajasthan State Highways Investment Program, approved by ADB Board in May 2017, that will upgrade about 2,000 kilometers of state highways and major district roads to two-lane or intermediate-lane standards to meet road safety requirements.
Mr. Raj Kumar, Joint Secretary (Multilateral Institutions), Department of Economic Affairs in the Ministry of Finance, signed on behalf of the Government of India, and Mr. Kenichi Yokoyama, Country Director of ADB’s India Resident Mission, signed for ADB. The project agreement was signed by Mr. S. L. Sharma, Chief Engineer and Additional Secretary, Public Works Department, the Government of Rajasthan.
Raj Kumar said that the project will help improve State Highways and major district roads in Rajasthan and also enhance the capacity of the State public works department in the areas of road asset management, road safety and project management.
After signing the loan Agreement, Mr. Kenichi Yokoyama, Country Director of ADB’s India Resident Mission said that one of the focus areas of the program is to attract private sector financing through government capacity building on public private partnership (PPP) development.
He said that ADB will finance part of the construction costs for the annuity-based PPP concessions and engineering procurement construction (EPC) contracts, enhance the stability of contract regime, and ensure good governance during project implementation.
The first tranche loan will improve about 1,000 kilometers of State Highways and major district roads. It will have a 25-year term, including a grace period of 8 years, and carry an annual interest rate determined in accordance with ADB’s London interbank offered rate-based (LIBOR) lending facility. The total cost of the project is $1.415 billion, with the government contributing $465 million and $450 million coming from the private sector and other concessionaries.
Following uproar in social media that the Good s and services tax (GST) rolled out on July 1, 2017 was against the interests of temple trusts as taxes them heavily while obliterating the presence of Waqf Boards and Churches, the government has clarified that there is no such religious bais in GST.
“There are some messages going around in the social media stating that the temple trusts have to pay the GST while the churches and mosques are exempt. This is completely untrue because no distinction is made in the GST Law on any provision based on religion. We request to people not to start circulating such wrong messages on social media,” said the government in a statement.
Ironic but the ministry did not clarify whether Hindu temples, Sikh Gurudwaras, Mosques and Churches are expemted from GST for the services, especially for free food to pilgrims they provide. Secondly, the GST is silent on temple trusts or boards whose income was in the past exempted in several forms.
Otherwise, GST clearly states that Puja Samagri is exempt from taxation. The provision in GST reads:”Puja samagri including havan samagri will be under the Nil category. However, exact formulation for the same is yet to be finalized.” Taxation on temple trusts, waqf boards and churches will be finalized by the ministry soon.
The government has rolled out the GST from July 1 with a view to introduce uniform indirect taxation system throughout the country, while concessions are given to States in certain areas like entertainment tax that has led to closure of cinema theatres in Tamil Nadu.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Israel culminates 25 years of painful rebuilding of relations between the two nations bonded by one common chord — victims of terrorism.
When Israel was allowed to open its cultural office in Mumbai in the mid-1990s, the move had raised several eyebrows among the diplomats and academics alike, while many news outlets failed to notice the underlying shift in India’s foreign policy, barring the Times of India.
An ardent supporter of the Palestine cause at the international fora throughout, India began to handshake with Israel to focus on bilateral cooperation in agriculture and defence supplies to begin with, and now it has reached its peak with the upcoming visit of PM Narendra Modi to Israel from July 4 to 6, 2017.
Though Modi’s visit to Israel was combined with a visit to Hamburg in Germany, to attend the G-20 summit from July 6th to 8th, Israel takes away the world attention, as the Indian Prime Minister is paying his first official visit to the country, which was instrumental in dividing the Post-War world.
“I will be visiting Israel on 4-6 July, 2017 upon invitation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. As the first Indian Prime Minister to do so, I am greatly looking forward to this unprecedented visit that will bring our two countries and people closer. This year, India and Israel are marking 25 years of our diplomatic relations,” said Modi in his Facebook post.
Besides the common challenge of terrorism, both leaders will discuss the full spectrum of partnership and strengthening it in diverse fields including defence supplies. On the economic side, “I will join with leading Indian and Israeli CEOs and start-ups to discuss our shared priority of expanding business and investment collaboration on the ground,” he said.
PM Modi will visit the Yad Vashem Memorial Museum to honour the memory of the victims of the holocaust and also pay tribute to the courageous Indian soldiers who laid down their lives during the liberation of Haifa in 1918 during the World War One.
India Israel relations date back to Sept. 17, 1950, when India recognised the formation of Israel. But the renewal of formal diplomatic relations began with the setting up of an office in Mumbai in 1992, with defence cooperation taking the centre stage between the two nations.
The visit to Israel by Admiral Sunil Lanba, Chief of Indian Navy, last month paved the way for greater cooperation in defence relations. Prior to that, a parliamentary delegation led by SS Ahluwalia visited Israel while External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj too paid a visit that paved the way for PM’s visit.
With both Tamil Nadu state and centre vying for share in Goods and Services Tax (GST) at abnormal rates of 30% by the state and 28 % by the Centre, theatre owners have finally called it a day to protest and prepare for a long shut-down of about 1,000 cinema halls across the state.
Announcing the decision, Tamil Nadu Cinema Theatre Owners Federation president Abirami Ramanathan on Sunday evening said the decision on double taxation was forced upon them unilaterally without prior consultations. “A GO was passed on Friday, declaring that in addition to GST, the state will levy 30% entertainment tax which will be collected by local bodies,” Ramanathan said.
The move has sent producers and cinema industry scurrying for cover as it involes huge losses for more than 10 recently released films, especially ‘Ivan Thanthiran’ released on Friday the last. It director R. Kannan said the film will suffer major loss.
“They announced the strike without prior notice,” he said and wondered, “How will I pay back loans I took to make this film?” Tamil Films Producers Council president Vishal has appealed for at least a week’s notice but the theatre owners association has gone ahead with the strike as even one week would mean compliance that will be forced upon them eventually.
Tamil Nadu is the only state in the country that has imposed a separate tax in addition to GST, and the total tax now comes to 68%, leaving only 32% for theatre owners, who are already facing extinction in a fiercely competitive and TV-dominated cinem industry.
More than that, 10 lakh people will lose their jobs and livelihood, which they say would not have happened had late CM J.Jayalalithaa been alive. Jayalalithaa was from the Tamil film industry before she entered politics.
The broadband race is heating up with BSNL desperately trying to match Reliance Jio offering 2GB daily cap on 4G data to its subscribers, while Airtel, Vodafone and Aircell trying to woo the customer with more freebies.
Currently, Reliance Jio is offering 28GB of 4G data for 28 days with a daily FUP of 1GB, free voice calls and unlimited SMS at Rs 309. The Rs 509 4G data plan offers 56GB of 4G data with a daily FUP of 2GB, free voice calls and unlimited SMS.
Under prepaid offer, the starting Reliance Jio offer of Rs 19 remains in tact but a new promotional offer for buyers of the Lyf phones Earth 1, Earth 2, Water 1, Water 7S, Water 8, Water 10, Water 11, F1, F1S and Wind 4S, provides 20% extra 4G data until March 31, 2018.
Matching Jio offer, BSNL has now upped its offer under Rs 339 plan providing 3GB per day with speed restricted to 80kbps after 3GB/daily and unlimited local/STD BSNL to BSNL voice calls, and 30 minutes of free voice calls from BSNL to others network per day. Its non-net voice calls will be charged at 25 P/Min. For prepaid users, BSNL’s Chaukka 444 data plan at Rs 444 offers similar data with reduced speed after 4GB per day to 80 Kbps.
Bharti Airtel offer of Rs.244 package gives 1GB of 4G data per day provides 70 days unlimited Airtel-to-Airtel calls for up to 300 minutes and 1,200 minutes per week (10 paise per minute after crossing the capped limit) for its prepaid users. Another plan of Rs 345 plan gives up to 2GB of 4G data for 28 days.
Not far behind, Vodafone has unveiled a new SuperNight pack at Rs.29 for prepaid users between 1 am to 6 am. Under this, unlimited 3G/4G data and download for five hours at Rs.29 is on the platter. that is just about Rs 6 per hour (price may vary from region to region).
LPG consumers will be in for a shock with the GST regime rolled out as the prices of new cylinder will shoot up by Rs.32 from July 1, as GST removes the 5% tax bracket for domestic LPG cylinders.
However, the new price varies from state to state depending on VAT imposition which ranged from 2 to 4% earlier. Another add-on for LPG cylinders is the increase in credit card service charges which will be 3% more than earlier and the so-called payback of Rs.7.50 for those using credit cards will be offset with the GST tax.
So, all the consumers who pay in full and get subsidy amount back in their accounts will now get Rs.20 to 30 less, making the indirect effect on consumers not felt immediately. However, for commercial or business users, the GST will provide 5% tax benefit under the new rules, reflecting the pro-business class GST tax structure.
While the move is apparently to dissuade diversion of household gas for commercial use, the measure is a typical one slap for all. With the international prices for natural gas rising, it is unlikely that the LPG household consummers will get reprieve in the near future.
With the GST tax compliance online getting murkier with too many forms and ambiguity, the government machinery is currently bogged down with more technical problems than worry about the high tax regime rolled out on ordinary consumers.
In a repetition of several such incidents where the patients are declared dead without proper checks, a hospital in Warangal, Telangana declared a four-day-old baby dead on Sunday but when she started moving at the cremation grounds, parents realised the faux pas but in vain.
The baby delivered at a private hospital weighed just 450 grams and was brought to MGM hospital in Warangal for neonatal intensive care unit, which has ventilator and oxygen facilities.
On Sunday morning at 11.30 am, the doctor on duty declared the baby dead and issued a death certificate too when parents decided to take the body to the cremation ground for the final rites.
When they found the baby moving, they rushed back to the same hospital where doctors again declared the baby dead, causing commotion and outrage among the relatives for their negligence in declaring the baby dead in the first instance and thus denying proper care. The parents said the doctors failed to properly check the ECG to determine the baby’s condition before declaring the baby dead.
Two weeks ago, in Delhi Safdarjung Hospital too a newborn, weighing around 460 gm was not revived after an abortion citing international norm but the baby was found alive later. Doctors who said, “It was technically an abortion because the delivery took place in the 20th week of pregnancy. Internationally, the norm says such children should not be revived,” failed to explain how they missed that the child was still breathing.
I could have buried my child if he hadn’t started kicking from inside the plastic packet,” said the father who had filed a complaint of negligence with the police.
A short and crisp video unveiled by President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the launch of the Goods and Services Tax in the majestic Central Hall of Parliament captured the clear objective behind country’s most important tax reform till date. Unlike what economists and other commentators have been telling us as to how the GST would push the country’s Gross Domestic Product and make life easier for the trade and industry, the launch film showed a much broader aspect of the modern taxation that has the country’s people, especially those economically less privileged at its core.
In his inspirational speech at mid-night of June 30, minutes before the roll out, Prime Minister, referred to GST as a life changing instrument for the poor particularly in eastern Uttar Pradesh, other eastern states and the North East. Even as they are blessed with rich natural resources, these states have not been able to fully exploit the same for their development.
On face of it, one might ask, how is GST going to be of great benefits to the poor of the country, or is it that the same old “trickle down “ theory is supposed to play a role , via trade and industry. To an extent, it could be so, but the very character of the GST would ensure in realising what the Prime Minister said before the country’s most distinguished audience. The country’s mature polity and cooperative federalism has finally delivered a system, which is people –centric and not necessarily manufacturer centric.
Unlike the excise or other levies, the GST that subsumes seven Central and eight state taxes, is not source or manufacturer based but a destination or consumer centric. In plain and simple language, the states which have more consumers would stand to gain immensely in terms of tax buoyancy that would then be channelled in the welfare schemes for the people and overall economic development of the states. Surely, states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, West Bengal and North East, which did not have much of a manufacturing base and were losing on revenue would stand to gain while the developed and manufacturing hubs would be compensated at least for five years of the GST launch. More the consumers, higher is the tax collection in a state; though the consumers need to be economically empowered!
The growth impetus to these states which could not keep pace with the states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu or Karnataka in manufacturing, would come from trade which in turn would generate huge resources for ploughing back into development efforts. Such a vibrancy would then lead to interest of investors, both domestic and global, into manufacturing and related service sectors, opening vistas for job creation for millions of people.
“GST is a system that ends the imbalances in the country’s trade. It also boosts the exports of the country. This system not only provides impetus to already developed states but also provides the opportunity to the backward states to develop. Our states are enriched with natural resources – look at Bihar, eastern UP, West Bengal, the north east, Odisha. They are all brimming with natural resources. When they will get a single tax regime I can see clearly that whatever deficiency is there those will be removed and this art of the country will move ahead. All the states of India will get equal opportunity for development”, the PM put the context right.
Besides, the one nation –one- tax from “Ganga Nagar to Itanagar “ in the words of Modi, would surely make life easier for the industry, trade and common person in different ways, encouraging honest way for the economic transactions. This is why, the GST has been dubbed as ‘Good and Simple Tax’ that would bring in a new governance culture.
Both the PM and the President gave full credit to different political parties and governments at the Centre and the states in making the GST a reality. “This is not a Sidhi (realisation) of one government or a party; it is a fruit of common efforts”, the Prime Minister said. The President, who had himself played a pivotal role in the progressive journey of the GST as Finance Minister in the previous government, had some apt words:
“The new era in taxation…. is the result of a broad consensus arrived at between the Centre and States. This consensus took not only time but also effort to build. The effort came from persons across the political spectrum who set aside narrow partisan considerations and put the nation’s interests first. It is a tribute to the maturity and wisdom of India’s democracy”.
One of the principal advantages of the new tax regime would be doing away with the cascading effect resulting from ‘tax on tax’. Through a robust IT infrastructure, the system of input credit ensures that it gets passed and adjusted against the tax liabilities. This would only help the consumers. “The prices of goods and services will come down. In the earlier system, the credit for excise duty, service tax, VAT and other indirect taxes did not get passed to the last vendor. But, in the GST, such credit goes to the supplier at the last stage of the value chain which then gets transferred to the consumers,” said noted tax expert Brij Bhushan.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley too has been impressing upon the industry to pass on any gains which accrue following the GST roll out. He hoped that the government may not have to use the powers vested in it through the Anti-Profiteering Authority to ensure that the benefits get passed on to the common citizens.
While even the President Pranab Mukherjee said that there could be disruptions in the initial stage, such a thing would be constructive disruption. Once we are through the teething troubles and initial period of adjustment, GST would prove to be a people-centric, capable of transforming lives. (PIB Feature)
Nirupam Sen, India’s former Permanent Representative to the UN, died in New Delhi on Sunday aged 70.
Nirupam Sen, a 1969 batch IFS officer, was India’s Permanent Representative from September 2004 to March 2009 and served as Special Senior Advisor to the UN General Assembly President. He also served as India’s Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Bulgaria and Norway during his career.
“Saddened at the passing of illustrious diplomat Ambassador Nirupam Sen. My condolences to his friends and family,” West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee tweeted.
Besides his former Indian Foreign Service colleagues, the Communist Party of India party general secretary Sudhakar Reddy was among those who gave him the final send off.
Nirupam Sen served in Oslo, Sofia (Bulgaria) and Colombo. He was figured in Wikileaks which revealed that his deputy in the Permanent Mission told a U.S. diplomat that South Block had given him the power to override Mr. Sen in view of his lack of sympathy for U.S. global policies.
A strong supporter of India’s tradition of non-alignment, Mr. Sen was perceived as close to Nehruvian policies in the Indian foreign policy establishment.
“He was close to the Leftist concerns and his work reflected that often. Most recently, he spoke about the centenary of the October Revolution and his introduction of the revolution impressed all,” Sumit Chakravartty, Editor, Mainstream, said.
Revenue Secretary, Government of India, Dr. Hasmukh Adhia clarified on seven misconceptions about newly implemented law relating to Goods and Services Tax (GST) through a series of tweets from his twitter handle @adhia03 on Sunday.
These myths relating to GST and Reality of each one is given below.
Myth 1: Do I need to generate all invoices on computer/ internet only.
Reality 1: Invoices can be generated manually also.
Myth 2: I need internet all the time to do business under GST.
Reality 2: Internet would be needed only while filing monthly return of GST.
Myth 3: I have provisional ID but waiting for final ID to do business.
Reality 3: Provisional ID will be your final GSTIN number. So start business.
Myth 4: My item of trade was earlier exempt so I will need new registration before starting business now.
Reality 4: You can continue doing business and get registered within 30 days.
Myth 5: There are 3 returns per month to be filed.
Reality 5: There is only 1 return with 3 parts, out of which first part is to be filed by dealer
and two other parts would be auto populated by computer.
Myth 6: Even small dealers will have to file invoice wise details in the return.
Reality 6: Those in retail business (B2C) need to file only summary of total sales.
Myth 7: New GST rate is higher compared to earlier VAT.
Reality 7: It appears higher because excise duty and other taxes which were invisible earlier are now subsumed in GST and so visible now.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday released a photo book titled “President Pranab Mukherjee – A Statesman”, at an event in Rashtrapati Bhawan and presented the first copy of the book to the President.
Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister said that in his view, we can be more history conscious as a society, and preserve aspects of our history much better.
He said that the Presidency is much more than protocol. Through the photographs in the book, we see the human side of our President and we feel proud, the Prime Minister said.
Narendra Modi said that two pictures of Mahatma Gandhi, one with a broom, and the other, seeing something through a microscope, show what a diverse personality he had.
Newspapers show some aspects of a leader, but there are more aspects to a leader than only what is published in the papers, the Prime Minister said.
He said that it is his privilege that he got to work with Pranab Mukherjee. Recounting his experiences, the Prime Minister said that several times, he had got to work with leaders and workers of very different ideologies.
He added that he will never forget that when he came to Delhi, he had someone like “Pranab Da” to guide him. He said President Pranab Mukherjee had guided him like a father figure, He said the President would even tell him to take adequate rest, and take care of his health.
Speaking on the occasion, the President expressed his gratitude to The Statesman for bringing out a photo essay on the 13th Presidency. He said that art and creative abilities transcend the boundaries of time and geographical borders. Their appeal is universal. He appreciated the wonderful photos taken by Varun Joshi from The Statesman that feature in the photo essay.
He also expressed his gratitude and deep appreciation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi who was present on the occasion to release the book.
The book “President Pranab Mukherjee – A Statesman” has been published by The Statesman, one of India’s oldest English-language newspapers. This book, a comprehensive photographic record of India’s 13th President, covers Mukherjee’s Presidency and documents his various roles including those as a humane first citizen, as a thought-leader , as a patron of educational institutions & the arts and as the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces etc.
Contraceptive pills have become popular now but the impact will lead to higher risk of breast cancer later in life, warn scientists.
Researchers from the University of Michigan found that some commonly prescribed birth control pills can quadruple the levels of synthetic estrogen and progesterone hormones, which increase the risk of breast cancers. The treatment of breast cancer is mainly focused on hormone therapy.
The blood tests on women who use birth control pills contained much higher levels of hormones compared to those who did not and the results showed that 4 out of 7 formulations tested were found to quadruple the levels of progestin, a synthetic version of the hormone progesterone.
Another test showed 40% higher exposure to ethinyl estradiol, synthetic estrogen, another major cause for breast cancer.
Study’s lead author Beverly Strassmann said that there is an urgent need for pharma companies to redesign the birth control pills so they do not cause breast cancer among women. Their research showed that one percent of breast cancer cases are caused by the use of oral contraceptive pills.
“Not enough has changed over the generations of these drugs and given how many people take hormonal birth control worldwide – millions – the pharmaceutical industry shouldn’t rest on its laurels,” she said.
In a previous study, birth control pills were found to have caused a small but significant increase in the risk of the most common type of stroke. The study published in the journal MedLink Neurology in 2015 showed that “the risk seems higher and, in most cases, oral contraceptive use should be discouraged.”
Marisa McGinley, Sarkis Morales-Vidal, and Jose Biller of Loyola University Medical Center and Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine studied about 100 million women worldwide who used oral contraceptives. Birth control pills increase the risk 1.9 times, to 8.5 strokes per 100,000 women, which means one out of 24,000 women would experience the stroke.
Early versions of the pill contained doses of synthetic estrogen as high as 150 micrograms, though they have come down to 20 to 35 micrograms now and not more than 50 micrograms. In the United States, there are about 40 brands of oral contraceptives and 21 brands of emergency contraceptive pills.
Samsung Electronics, which has recalled millions of units of Galaxy Note 7 smartphones, will refurbish them and sell them 30 percent discounted price in South Korea beginning Friday, July 7, 2017.
The Galaxy Note 7 faced several instances of battery fires and was banned in aircraft last year when it was launched, forcing the mobile giant to recall them. Now Samsung wants to resell them with replaced batteries manufactured by different makers.
Samsung said in a statement that 400,000 phones, dubbed the Galaxy Note 7 Fan Edition, will be put on sale in its home country priced at 699,600 won ($611), which is 30 percent lower than the Note 7’s original launch price.
The new units meant for sale are from recalled, unsealed Galaxy Note 7 handsets and making use of some unused Note 7 components, said the company. Since the battery was the main problem, the replaced battery will have a lower capacity than those of the original Note 7s, but have passed new safety measures, it said.
To recall, Samsung faced unprecedented criticism over a higher capacity battery that was used in its highly advertised Galaxy Note 7 when it was launched in October last year.
Within two months, amid several instances of the smartphone catching fire from its batteries, Samsung had to recall all the units that had cost the world’s biggest smartphone maker by volume a staggering amount of $5 billion and damaged its reputation, though its next launch Galaxy S8 was smooth and successful.
Samsung will decide soon whether to sell the refurbished Note 7s in other markets, but not in India and the United States, where it faced legal ban.
Here are the features or specs of Samsung Galaxy Note 7:
NETWORK
Technology
GSM / HSPA / LTE
LAUNCH
Announced
2016, August. Released 2016, September
Status
Discontinued
BODY
Dimensions
153.5 x 73.9 x 7.9 mm (6.04 x 2.91 x 0.31 in)
Weight
169 g (5.96 oz)
Build
Corning Gorilla Glass 5 back panel
SIM
Single SIM (Nano-SIM) or Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by)
– IP68 certified – dust/water proof over 1.5 meter and 30 minutes
– Stylus
– Samsung Pay (Visa, MasterCard certified)
In a glaring oversight, an ICSE Class 6 science textbook shows a “mosque” as a source of noise pollution depicting a man below closing his ears to the sound from loudspeakers from mosques.
Other noise-producing symbols like train, car and plane were seen in the picture but the osque has triggered uproar. While the textbook is not published directly or prescribed by the ICSE, it has denied any role in dipicting a religious symbol in the textbook in a negative tone.
Gerry Arathoon, Secretary of the Council for Indian School Certificate Examinations, told news agency PTI, “If any book with objectionable content is being taught at certain schools, it is for schools and publisher to ensure such a thing does not happen.”
However, social media is abuzz with an online petition launched to demand ban on the book and the private publisher has apologised for the mistake and assured to remove the offensive picture.
Hemant Gupta of Selina Publishers, said, “We do apologise if it has hurt the sentiments of anyone,” as the picture consisted of “a structure resembling a portion of a fort and other noise producing objects in a noisy city”.
The textbook row follows similar controversy when Bollywood singer Sonu Nigam said he was woken up by the sound of “azaan” or early morning prayers from mosques over loudspeakers. Before the controversy subsided, the ICSE textbook row had hit the social media.
Religious portions in textbooks have often triggered major controversies and recently a Class 9 Hindi textbook has referred to Jesus Christ as a demon. Another tongue-in cheek description in Class 12 textbook on physical education suggested ideal feminine body size as 36-24-36.
Flaxseed is the new sought-after supplement in faily diet owing to its component lignans which help women to get regular menstrual cycle and also reduce the risk of breast cancer, show recent research findings.
According to the American Institute for Cancer Research, flax seed contains lignans, also called phytoestrogens, bearing a chemical structure similar to estrogen but unlike estrogen that increases the risk of breast cancer, these brown seeds do not increase cancer risk but be more protective.
In studies conducted on animals, it was shown that lignans isolated from flaxseed help women during the menstrual period and post-menopausal period by lowering the risk of breast cancer. It was also observed that flaxseed did not interfere with the effectiveness of the anti-estrogen medication tamoxifen, said the AICR study. The higher blood levels of lignans show prominent cancer-protective features, said the study.
“For people who wish to consume flaxseed as a source of omega-3 fat or dietary fiber, studies do not support fears that flaxseed could increase incidence or recurrence of breast cancer,” says Karen Collins. However, more research is to be done before recommending it as a medication for breast cancer, said Collins in the paper.
In a previous study conducted from 2002 to 2005, the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) researchers used the MARIE study to take blood samples of 1,140 women who had been diagnosed with postmenopausal breast cancer. After a mean observation time of six years, they related enterolactone levels to clinical disease progression.
Compared to the study subjects with the lowest enterolactone levels, the women with the highest blood levels of this biomarker had an approximately 40 percent lower mortality risk. When the scientists additionally took account of the incidence of metastasis and secondary tumors, they obtained a similar result: Women with the highest enterolactone levels also had a lower risk for such an unfavorable disease progression.
“We now have first clear evidence showing that lignans lower not only the risk of developing postmenopausal breast cancer, but also the mortality risk,” said Jenny Chang-Claude.
There had been prior studies to determine the lignan intake by means of dietary surveys. But the results of such surveys are often unreliable and, in addition, there are big differences in the way individuals actually process the plant substances into effective metabolic products. Therefore, the Heidelberg team chose the more reliable measurement of biomarkers.
Otherwise, flax seeds have other potential medicinal properties, besides preventing growth of harmful cancer cells, even for prostate cancer. Since these seeds are found to catalyze insulin secretion in the body to regulate blood-sugar levels, diabetics are often advised to make it part of their daily diet.
In menopausal women, flaxseeds help them fight complications by maintaining balance in body hormones and reducing the risk of osteoporosis. It is also helpful in lowering bad cholesterol due to its rich nutrients.
The flipside of flaxseeds is that they are rich in calorie levels, 150 grams in four tablespoons.
NASA’s Juno spacecraft is all set for another manoeuvre on July 10, flying directly over Jupiter’s Great Red Spot, the gas giant’s iconic, 10,000-mile-wide (16,000-kilometer-wide) storm.
This meanoeuvre will be humanity’s first close-up view of the gigantic storm being monitored since 1830 and possibly existing for more than 350 years on Jupiter, making it mysterious and puzzling.
“Jupiter’s mysterious Great Red Spot is probably the best-known feature of Jupiter,” said Scott Bolton, principal investigator of Juno from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. “This monumental storm has raged on the solar system’s biggest planet for centuries. Now, Juno and her cloud-penetrating science instruments will dive in to see how deep the roots of this storm go, and help us understand how this giant storm works and what makes it so special,” said a NASA report.
The July 10 flyby will Juno’s sixth on to the gas giant’s mysterious cloud tops. Since Juno’s perijove is on Monday, July 10, at 6:55 pm PDT (9:55 pm EDT), Juno will be about 2,200 miles (3,500 kilometers) above the planet’s cloud tops.
In its closest reach lasting for 11 minutes and 33 seconds, Juno will cover another 24,713 miles (39,771 kilometers) and will be directly above the coiling crimson cloud tops of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot, said NASA. The spacecraft will bee about 5,600 miles (9,000 kilometers) above the Giant Red Spot clouds and all its 8 instruments and its camera JunoCam, will be directly on the storm during the flyby.
“The success of science collection at Jupiter is a testament to the dedication, creativity and technical abilities of the NASA-Juno team,” said Rick Nybakken, project manager for Juno from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. “Each new orbit brings us closer to the heart of Jupiter’s radiation belt, but so far the spacecraft has weathered the storm of electrons surrounding Jupiter better than we could have ever imagined.”
As US is celebrating its Independence Day on July 4, Juno will have logged exactly one year in Jupiter orbit.
NASA satellites have detected from space that the number of fires across tropical forests in South America, the Eurasian Steppe, and the savannas of Africa are increasingly declining due to settled lifestyle than previous nomadic lifestyle in the regions.
The transition is leading intensified agriculture and steep drop in the use of fire leading to decline of forest fires, said researchers from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
The total acreage burned by fires declined annually by 24% from 1998 to 2015, said a research paper based on NASA satellite data and ground-based socioeconomic information. The beneficiaries are mainly the savannas and grasslands, which witnessed fires burning out half the size of the US every year, said Niels Andela, a research scientist at Goddard and lead author.
In traditional savanna cultures, people often set fires to keep grazing lands productive and free of shrubs. Since many of these communities have shifted to cultivate more permanent fields and to build more houses, roads and villages, the use of fire declines.eading organisaed governance that controls fires. By 2015, savanna fires in Africa had declined by 270,000 square miles (700,000 square km), almost equivalent to an area the size of Texas.
“When land use intensifies on savannas, fire is used less and less as a tool. As soon as people invest in houses, crops and livestock, they don’t want these fires close by anymore. The way of doing agriculture changes, the practices change, and fire slowly disappears from the grassland landscape,” said Andela.
Fires in the savanna, like this one in South Africa, burn quickly through grasses, and help prevent trees and larger shrubs from taking root. CREDIT: Guido van der Werf / Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands
For their study, researchers used data derived from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) instruments on NASA’s Terra and Aqua satellites, as well as other sources and compared it with trends in population, agriculture, livestock density and gross domestic product.
The scientists found a different pattern emerging in the rainforests close to the equator. Natural fires are rare in tropical forests, but as people settle an area they often burn to clear land for cropland and pastures. Once settled, they set fewer fires and the burned area declines.
The impact of a warming and drying climate is seen at higher latitudes in Canada and the American west, where fire has increased. Even in parts of China, India, Brazil and southern Africa, an increase in burned area is coming to light, said Doug Morton, a research scientist at Goddard and a co-author of the study.
“Climate change has increased fire risk in many regions, but satellite burned area data show that human activity has effectively counterbalanced that climate risk, especially across the global tropics,” Morton said.
The 24% decline in burned area may have contributed about 7% to the ability of global vegetation to absorb the increase in carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels and land use change.
Shatamanam Bhavati, says Sanskrit Hindu blessing hymn. It may come true going by the trend, say Canadian scientists. Humans, who live longer than any other species, barring trees and elephants, have many super centenarians who are crossing the 100-year-old threshold, pushing the lifespan further up.
Jeanne Calment of France who lived till she was 122 years old seeing both World Wars, Mussolini and democratic reforms later, buyoant economic growth of Italy and its underworld remains a mystery to scientists and medical community. Many Japanese women have reached nearly the same age and the clock kept on chaning faces in the last one decade.
When Canadaian Emma Morano lived up to 117 years, the researchers began to ponder if there is any end to it. Researchers from the McGill University in Canada have taken up a study of the increasing lifespan of the longest-living individuals from Japan, Italy, US, UK and France since 1968 and realised that there is no cap on how long one can live literally. Nor can there be a cap on maximum age one can live with modern medical amenities within the reach and the way Japan’s robust care for the elderly works.
“We just don’t know what the age limit might be. In fact, by extending trend lines, we can show that maximum and average lifespans, could continue to increase far into the foreseeable future,” said Siegfried Hekimi, from McGill University of Canada and the team lead.
A century ago, the average lifespan was around 60 years in developed countries while it was far below at 50 years in countries like India, bar those who practised yoga and lied on good food.
Moving forward, as of 1980, the average lifespan increased to 76 years while it is hovering around 70 years elsewhere, especially in developing countries like India. Now that the world has been shrunk to a global village, thanks to Internet, awareness is increasing, hospital care is at throwaway distance and many people have grown to be rich and educated. The lifespan average is now 82 years in Canada and around 76 years in India or other emerging economies.
However, Hekmi and his team found out that it is impossible to predict future lifespan of humans, which can move further up to a few hundred years, bringing the ancient Sanskrit blessing – Shatamanam Bhavati (Live for 1000 years) – come true. While nobody knows why the Hindu blessing of Shatamanam Bhavati was spelt out at every auspicious occasion when it was evrybody’s knowledge that one cannot live beyond 60 to 100 in ancient times too. But certainly there is an inherent meaning to its scope.
“Three hundred years ago, many people lived only short lives. If we would have told them that one day most humans might live up to 100, they would have said we were crazy,” said Hekimi. Now it is possible with the modern medical care, old age pension and other technology is there to help push the maximum lifespan of people beyond the 100 years to reach one day even 1000 years to make the Sanskrit wording “Shatamanam Bhavati” come true.
The research of Hekmi was published in the journal Nature.
