Monthly Archives: June 2017

Meet Arnav Sharma, Indian Boy Who Scored Higher Than Einstein, Hawking in IQ Test

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An Indian-origin boy aged 11 took the famous Mensa Test for IQ measurement, totally unprepared and unaware of it and the results showed that the child prodigy has scored more than what Albert Einstein or Stephen Hawking could have scored.

The maximum score in the test was around 140 and the boy, Arnav Sharma scored 162 in the Mensa Test.

The Mensa club, founded in 1946 in Oxford, has been on a unique mission to “identify and foster human intelligence for the benefit of humanity.” It conducts the Mensa test to enrol those who are highly intelligent and far above the average.

Just the top 2% of the United Kingdom are able to join the club and the India child prodigy has had a cake walk when he took the test and proved that he is far above than even the renowned scientists of the world — Einstein and Hawking.

The Mensa Club spokesperson said, “It is a high mark which only a small percentage of people in the country will achieve”.

The Mensa test consists of verbal reasoning ability and Arnav was apparently not sure that he could have done it so well. Arnav has a little brother and it is not known whether he is also a child prodigy.

Arnav, a student of Crossfields School, told The Independent, “I had no preparation at all for the exam but I was not nervous. My family were surprised but they were also very happy when I told them about the result.”

Arnav’s mother was equally upbeat. “He was counting up to more than 100 (when aged two and a half year old). That was when I stopped teaching him because I came to know that there is no end to his numbers,” she said.

When Independent reporter queried whether there was any other wizard in the family, the boy’s mother said her husband was not as clever though he is clever saying: “His dad is quite clever as well but not as clever.”

Mars Colony with Child Slaves? No Way, Says NASA Denying Ex-CIA Man’s Allegations

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NASA has always been accused of wrong doing in space or hiding aliens or UFOs spotted in the sky and the US space agency has kept silent or denied very often any such conspiracy theories and the lastest one was Anonymous video and in less than a week another conspiracy theory has hit the agency.

In a bizarre revelation on Jones’ TV show , Robert David Steele, an erstwhile CIA officer proposed that kids have been secretly shipped to Mars in the last two decades to live and work as slaves. However, his contention had no evidence but enough of an allegation that forced NASA to deny it.

In his allegations, Steele said: “We actually believe that there is a colony on Mars that is populated by children who were kidnapped and sent into space on a 20-year ride. So that once they get to Mars they have no alternative but to be slaves on the Mars colony.”

Jones pointed out that 90 percent of NASA’s missions are secret and hence the allegations get credence. Soon, a NASA official gave a curt statement to the Daily Beast, which had published the allegation:

“There are no humans on Mars. There are active rovers on Mars. There was a rumor going around last week that there weren’t. There are,” said Guy Webster, a spokesperson for Mars exploration at NASA told the site. “But there are no humans,” he added categorically.

 

The “discovery” or allegation was made after showing an image on Mars that showed tracks, which looked like man-made.

Last Date of Nomination for AYUSH Medical Seats Extended to July 31, 2017

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The Ministry of AYUSH has extended the last date for application to several seats for MD/PG in Ayurveda/Unani/Siddha and Homoeopathy Courses under Central Government Nomination (CGN) as per guidelines for the academic session 2017-18 from the eligible Government Teachers/Medical Officers (Doctors)/Research Officers.

These applications were invited through the concerned State /UT Governments up to 15.06.2017 and 30.06.2017 (NER). In view of administrative reasons, the ministry said it has decided to extend the last date for receiving through the concerned State Governments/UTs up to 31st July, 2017.

There are total 626 AYUSH Colleges in the country and two National Institutes to impart education in Ayurveda namely (i) National Institute of Ayurveda, Jaipur for Under-graduate and Post-graduate education and (ii) Institute of Post-Graduate Training and Research in Ayurveda, Jamnagar for Post-graduate education.

In addition the Government has established two new Ayurveda institutes during the academic session 2016-17 namely (i) All India Institute of Ayurveda, New Delhi for Post-graduate education and (ii) North Eastern Institute of Ayurveda & Homoeopathy, Shillong for Under-graduate education in Ayurveda.

Currently, India has five Central Councils for Research in Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani, Yoga and Naturopathy and Homoeopathy for undertaking, coordinating, formulating, developing and promoting research on scientific lines, through 82 peripheral institute/Centres/Units located all over India and also through collaborative studies with various universities, hospitals and institutes.

The research activities of the councils include medicinal plant research (Medico-ethno botanical survey, pharmacognosy and tissue culture), Drug Standardization Pharmacological Research, Clinical Research, Literary Research & Documentation, and other outreach activities. Further, Ministry of AYUSH runs Extra Mural Research (EMR) scheme to conduct the research on various aspects of AYUSH systems.

The Centrally Sponsored Scheme of National AYUSH Mission (NAM) was announced on 29th September 2014 for better access to AYUSH services such as strengthening of AYUSH educational institutions, facilitate the enforcement of quality control of Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and Homoeopathy drugs and sustainable availability of raw materials by promotion of medicinal plants in the States/UTs.

 

Zika Virus Surveillance in India Widened Now: Centre

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Following the first zika virus positive test report from Ahemedabad and two more in surveillance tests, the government said it has announced immediate measures to tackle the cases and test equipment across the country.

The sample was from a 34-year-old female patient admitted to hospital with complaints of fever following delivery of a healthy baby who had no travel history to any Zika affected country. Two more cases have been confirmed positive for Zika virus disease from the samples collected during January and February 2017. The other two cases include a 22-year-old pregnant woman in her 37th week of pregnancy and a 64-year-old male with 8 days history of fever.

Though World Health Organization had declared last November that Zika disease infection no longer constituted a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), the state government and the Centre have initiated country-wide Zika laboratory based surveillance in India that has so far tested 36,613 human samples and 16,571 mosquito samples for the presence of Zika virus, though no more positive cases have been reported.

National Guidelines and Action Plan on Zika virus, prepared and shared with the States whille an Inter – Ministerial Task Force has been set up under Chairmanship of Secretary (Health) with Secretary (Bio – Technology), Secretary (Department of Health Research) as members, said a statement.

The Joint Monitoring Group, a Technical group under DGHS, tasked to monitor emerging and re-emerging diseases is regularly reviewing the situation on Zika virus disease, it said.

All the International Airports / Ports have displayed signage providing information for travelers on Zika virus disease and to report if they are returning from any of the affected countries and suffering from febrile illness.

Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) is tracking for clustering of acute febrile illness in the community and sensitized its State and District Rapid Response Teams, while the National Institute of Virology, Pune, and NCDC, Delhi, 25 laboratories have been strengthened by Indian Council of Medical Research for laboratory diagnosis.

Currently, three entomological laboratories are conducting Zika virus testing on mosquito samples and six more lab staff have been trained for vector surveillance for Zika virus.

The Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK) is monitoring microcephaly from 55 sentinel sites though no increase in number of cases / clustering of microcephaly has been reported from these centers, said the government. Meanwhle, a 24×7 control room (011-23061469) is functioning from Directorate General of Health Services.

Why Tabu Never Married? Blame it on Ajay Devgn Bullying Suitors?

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It is not because of romance with Ajay Devgn in her first film “Vijaypath” that Tabu is single even after 25 years but because both her cousin Sameer Arya and Ajay were bullies who would warn anybody who tried to speak to her on the street when she was young, revealed the actress.

Though acted in a couple of films before, Tabu entered Bollywood successfully with “Vajaypath”, which had set the career rolling both for her and for Ajay Devgn. “We did Vijaypath in ’94. It’s nice to be able to romance the same hero on screen even after 23 years,” said Tabu in a media interaction.

Tabu, who is returning to act with Ajay Devgn in “Golmaal Again” with Rohit Shetty, shared her younger days and her friendship with neighbourhood boy Ajay. She said she had given the responsibility of finding a groom to Ajay Devgn but in vain and hence, she remained single even to this day. However, she did not speak about Telugu actor Nagarjuna with whom she had acted in several hit films.

In her exclusive interview to Mumbai Mirror, Tabu is quoted to have said, “Yes, Ajay and I have known each other for 25 years. He was my cousin Sameer Arya’s neighbour and close buddy, a part of my growing up years and that has laid the foundation of our relationship. When I was young, Sameer and Ajay would spy on me, follow me around and threaten to beat up any boys who are caught talking to me. They were the big bullies and if I am single today, it is because of Ajay. I hope he repents and regrets what he did.”

Though said in a lighter way, Tabu is reportedly preparing for a lighter role in the upcoming film “Golmaal Again” with Ajay Devgn. She further told Mumbai Mirror that she had told him to find a boy to marry, which never happened and the erstwhile heart-throb of many leading actors in Bollywood and down the south remained single.

However, she quickly added that Ajay Devgn is one whom she can count on for any help. “If there is anyone I can count on, it’s Ajay,” she said conclusively.

 

Trijunction Row: China Reminds India of 1962 War and Defeat

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When Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Russian President Vladimir Putin early this month during his visit to St.Petersburg that India and China never had any border skirmishes in recent decades, it had sent positive vibes which were finally stalled at the trijunction of India, Bhutan and China borders in Sikkim.

In its bid to construct a road along Bhutan and India at Sikkim border, China first asked India to respect Bhutan which has shared the border but never raised any issue over the road. When Bhutan joined India in support over the trijunction violation, Beijing reminded India of history.

India can never afford to forget history. In 1962, India and China had fought a war over the border in Ladakh region that took the toll in defeated India and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s health which deteriorated over what he described as a let down by China despite his support to them at international fora.

China is upset that India is egging Tibet and together raising objection to construct a road on a trijunction that is called Chicken’s Neck and strategically crucial or vulnerable for India.

“Donglang is part of China’s territory. This is indisputable. The Donglang area belonged to China since ancient times and it doesn’t belong to Bhutan,” asserted Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang in Beijing, refuting India’s objection.

Besides lodging protest with New Delhi, China wanted to go aggressive by shutting the Nathu La pass in Sikkim for Indian pilgrims to Manasarovar. Defending the move, the Chinese spokesman said:

“For a long time in the interest of India-China relations, China provided great conveniences to the Indian pilgrims. Based on the consensus between the two countries’ leaders, and on the fact that the Sikkim sector boundary is delineated and recognised by two countries, the Chinese side in 2015 opened the Nathu La pass for Indian pilgrims,” he said.

“Now the suspension of the same is an emergency response to the situation there. I want to stress that the resumption of pilgrims pass requires necessary atmosphere and conditions. So the liability of the same totally lies with the Indian side and when it will be reopened depends on when or whether the Indian side will correct its errors,” he said.

Though China doesn’t have diplomatic relations with Bhutan, Lu said Bhutan is a universally recognised sovereign country and a third party should not interfere on behalf of Bhutan. Strange but Chinese over-reaction smacks of something more.

Of late, India and China relations have been smooth with bilateral trade and investment ballooning beyond the border constraints. Major mobile brands of Chinese mobile companies like Xiaomi, OnePlus and Oppo have become the top brands next only to Samsung, and machinery is mostly imported by India from China. But where will it lead to?

After 20 Years, McDonald Shuts 43 Outlets in Delhi

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The global food giant McDonald which had made headlines in 1997 when it opened first outlets in India at Delhi with veg burgers replacing its iconic beef burgers elsewhere, hit an unexpected controversy almost 20 years later over ownership issue.

The franchisee given to Connaught Plaza Restaurants Pvt Ltd (CPRL) in North and Eastern India has run into trouble over the ownership of CPRL, which had been jointly owned by Vikram Bakshi and McDonald’s.

Refusing to renew the licence, McDonald’s told media that the restaurant licenses of these McDonald’s restaurants in Delhi “expired”, bringing curtains down on two-year-old controversy and ending 20-year-old partnership with Vikram Bakshi.

McDonald franchisee Vikram Bakshi at loggerheads with parent firm

McDonald’s India has been fighting over the control of CPRL and arbitration proceedings to settle the issue with Bakshi failed at the London Court of International Arbitration. With the expired licences, McDonald’s has decided to shut all the 43 restaurants owned by the joint venture.

McDonald’s India Pvt Ltd (MIPL) spokesperson Barry Sum said, “The Board of CPRL is working to obtain the required licenses. Pending this, CPRL is temporarily suspending the operations of the affected restaurants,” and all the 43 restaurants will face closure. MIPL said all the 1700 employees who will be affected will be paid salaries as usual until the suspension is revoked.

The McDonald’s franchisee for south and west is managed by Amit Jatia. Currently, McDonald’s has more than 320 million customers a year.

However, last year, its reputation faced critical test when news over its use of beef oil for french fries was assailed all over the country where Hindus shun beef and any beef-related products.

McDonald’s was followed by the entry of other US eateries such as Domino’s Pizza which has more than 500 restaurants across India, while KFC has more than 300 restaurants.

Dunkin Donuts has more than 30 outlets in India and Burger King has presence in major cities like Delhi and and Bangalore with more than 10 restaurants.

Cabinet Approves MoU with US Homeland Security

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The Union Cabinet on Wednesday, June 28, 2017, approved signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation between India and the United States of America on Homeland Security.

The Memorandum of Cooperation will further strengthen bilateral security relations between India and the USA and will also help in coordination and interactions among the six Sub-Groups that are proposed to be formed under Homeland Security Dialogue between the two countries.

The Cabinet approval follows Prime Minister’s recent visit to the United States where he had talks with President Donald Trump and senior US officials on boosting bilateral cooperation, including upgrading security matters such as MALABAR joint exercise with US and Japan in the Indian Ocean.

The Cabinet also approved another MoU between India and Israel on National Campaign for Water Conservation in India, that will ensure conserving water for future generations.

The two countries will work together at the national, regional and international level to design, implement and monitor a professionally-designed National Water Conservation campaign in India. The Ministries agree to jointly work on the water conservation campaign to achieve the following objectives:

a.Put water conservation on the national agenda in India

b.Encouraging every citizen to save water in everyday life

c.Generating awareness about water

d.Promoting Re-use, Recharge and Recycling of water

e.Develop digital tools such as websites, mobile apps on water conservation

EC Launches Voter Registration Reminder on Facebook

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Election Commission of India (ECI) is launching a ‘Special Drive’ to enrol left-out electors, especially first time electors from 1st July , 2017 , to ensure that ‘NO VOTER TO BE LEFT BEHIND’.

In order to reach out to maximum eligible voters, the ECI has roped in Facebook to launch first Nationwide “Voter Registration Reminder” on 1st July ,2017 .  With over 180 million people in India on Face book, the ‘Register Now’ button is designed to encourage Indian citizens to register themselves with the Election Commission of India.

On 1st July, a notification of the “voter registration reminder” will be sent to people on Facebook in India who are eligible to vote. The reminder will be sent out in 13 Indian languages – English, Hindi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Punjabi, Bengali, Urdu, Assamese, Marathi and Oriya.

This is the first time Facebook’s voter registration reminder has been rolled out across India. In 2016 and 2017, Chief Electoral Officers made such efforts at state level during their respective state elections.

By clicking on the “Register Now” button on Facebook from 1st July 2017, people will be directed to the National Voters’ Services Portal which will guide them through the registration process.

Speaking about nationwide launch of “Voter Registration Reminder” the Chief Election Commissioner Dr Nasim Zaidi said  “I am pleased to announce that the Election Commission of India is launching a ‘Special Drive to enrol left out electors, with a special focus on first time electors This is a step towards fulfilment of the motto of ECI that    ‘NO VOTER TO BE LEFT BEHIND‘.”

 

Commenting on scheduled launch of “Voter Registration Reminder” by Facebook for the first time in India, Ms. Ankhi Das, Facebook’s Public Policy Director for India, South & Central Asia, said “People use Face book to learn, talk and get involved with issues that matter to them. We want to build engagements that support this type of civic engagement – on Election Day and every day. We believe that democracies are stronger when more people are engaged – that’s why we are encouraging everyone who is eligible to register to vote and connecting them with resources.”

Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 Platform Unveiled at Shanghai MWC 2017

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Soon future mobiles will sport Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 Mobile platform with a 14nm FinFET process for finger print scanningthat can penetrate glass and even metal, said the tech firm in a statement made at Mobile World Congress Shanghai 2017.

Qualcomm Technologies said its Snapdragon 400 Mobile Platform tier designed for mid-range smartphones and tablets, delivers significant improvements in battery life, graphics and computing performance, imaging and LTE connectivity over its predecessor, the Snapdragon 435 Mobile Platform.

Listing the four key features in its Snapdragon 450 platform, the company said it has higher performing octa-core ARM Cortex A53 CPU achieving 25 percent increase in compute performance compared to its predecessor. Additionally, the integrated Qualcomm Adreno 506 GPU delivers a 25 percent increase in graphics performance over the Snapdragon 435, it added.

Battery life will increase by up to four additional hours compared to the Snapdragon 435, as a 30 percent reduction in power is required when gaming, helping consumers stay connected and productive for much longer, said Snapdragon Technologies. The Snapdragon 450 sports Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 support, which can charge a typical smartphone from zero to 80 percent in about 35 minutes.

The Snapdragon 450 is a pioneer in the 400-tier to support real-time Bokeh (Live Bokeh) effects. It is also designed to improve on previous generations by including support for enhanced dual camera at 13+13MP, or single camera support up to 21MP; hybrid autofocus; and 1080p video capture and playback at up to 60fps, enabling slow motion capture. The Snapdragon 450 also includes support for 1920×1200 full HD displays, as well as the Qualcomm Hexagon DSP, which enables multimedia, camera and sensor processing at greater performance and lower power than the previous generation, claimed the company.

Connectivity and USB enable fast LTE connectivity with the Snapdragon X9 LTE modem, which utilizes 2x20MHz carrier aggregation in both downlink and uplink for peak speeds of 300 Mbps and 150 Mbps respectively, support for a large number of mobile networks with Snapdragon All Mode, and 802.11ac with MU-MIMO support. The Snapdragon 450 also supports USB 3.0 which is first in its tier to support fast USB data transfer, said the company.

“We’ve made many recent changes to the Snapdragon Mobile Platforms as part of our vision to deliver the most advanced mobile functionality at the best possible value, and the Snapdragon 450 Mobile Platform is another realization of that vision,” said Kedar Kondap, vice president, product management, Qualcomm Technologies. “With the Snapdragon 450, users are going to see a dramatically improved level of performance, connectivity, battery life and imaging performance.”

So far, more than 1900 designs have been either launched or are in the pipeline across the Snapdragon 400 tier mobile platforms, which is expected to begin commercial sampling to customers in Q3 2017, and is expected to be available in consumer devices by the end of 2017, said the company.

Google Changed Look of its Google News Page An Hour Ago!

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For those who had just visited Google News an hour ago would be surprised to see a new look of Google News page now, 11:20 pm on Wednesday, June 28, 2017. Beginning today, Google will have a new sleek look of its News Page, departing from the old Google News page that was changed slightly six years ago.

Here’s the Old Google News Page grab of India edition of Google News Page for those who may miss it or feel nostalgic about it. (No copyrights):

A photo grab of old Google News page taken just before Google shut it for a new look Google News Page. (Photo: India International Times)

The new Google News page that adorns viewers now with its sleek and spacious look is dominated by the pleasant blue colour and the font changed for better to make it more appealing. On the right top corner, a welcoming note on the changes leads the visitor to the official blog post by Anand Paka, Product Manager of Google News.

 

The new design is for readability, says the post citing some of the features such as — thenew UI has a clean and uncluttered look, designed for comfortable reading and browsing. “We’ve adopted a card format that makes it easier to browse, scan and identify related articles about a story,” reads the post. 

The new layout focuses on better display of publisher names, which had earlier been so light and negligible. The article labels now maintain visitors’ view and place on the page as they click in and out of stories and explore topics, he said.

“We dedicated the navigation column on the left to sections that you customize. You can jump quickly to news you enjoy, whether it’s standard sections like Sports or Entertainment, or those created by you and powered by your queries, such as “FIFA World Cup” or “Bollywood,” said the post.

At the top of the page, a new navigation bar for “Headlines,” “Local” and “For You” attract the reader’s attention, which come to life once the reader signs in and personalizes the “Local” and “For You” tabs. In “Local,” one can track stories from any part of the world that he or she cares about—from their hometown to where they do business to where they went to school. “In “For You,” you can pinpoint niche interests and create your own mini news feed, whether it’s following your favorite team, or satisfying your inner geek with news on cool gadgets and gizmos,” wrote Anand. 
Story Cards with different perspective on an issue. “The first view offers a quick glance into a story. From there you can go deeper and read articles with different points of view which are frequently labeled with helpful tags (e.g., Local Source, Most Referenced, Opinion, or Fact Check).”

“People have told us these labels identify important facets of a story and provide more context. As a result, whenever possible, we now show a second labeled article in addition to the top headline for each story. This way you can see additional context on stories immediately even as you are scanning.” 

Next comes the “Full Coverage” page, as the name suggests, lets the reader immerse himself or herself in coverage about a story or issue that they want to deep dive into, writes Anand, revealing the changes made to the Google News page. 

RBI Silent on Rs.200 New Currency Notes in Print

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The Reserve Bank of India is planning to go ahead with the printing of Rs.200 currency notes to replenish the 18 percent gap in currency circulation owing to November 8 demonetisation drive that banned Rs.1000 and old Rs.500 notes, said a media report.

The Economic Times report said the RBI did not confirm or deny to a query on this but based on sources close to the printing schedule, a Kolkata report confirmed that the printing process is underway for the trial printing of the notes. The features and the colour of the note still remain secret.

The only confirmation from the Central bank was that it had approved a new Re.1 currency note, printed not by the RBI but by the Government of India as the base currency unit, under the Coinage Act of 2011.

The existing currency notes in this denomination in circulation will also continue to be legal tender. New Currency Note of Re.1 will be in rectangular shape with Ashoka Pillar in the window without words ‘सत्‍यमेव जयते’, hidden Numeral ‘1’ in the centre, hidden Word ‘भारत’ vertically arranged on right hand side.

On the other side, it contains the words ‘भारत सरकार’ above the words “Government of India” with the bilingual signature of Shri Shaktikanta Das, Secretary, Ministry of finance and with the replica of New Rupee One coin with ₹ symbol of 2017 issued with ‘सत्‍यमेव जयते’ and capital insert letter ‘L’ in numbering panel.

The numbering will be in black at right hand bottom portion of the note in ascending size of numerals from left to right, while the first three alphanumeric characters (prefix) remains constant in size. It will have the picture of ‘Sagar Samrat’ the oil exploration platform and with the authentic rendering of value in fifteen Indian languages in language panel with the year figure shown on the centre bottom in international number.

The colour of One Rupee Currency Note shall be predominantly pink green on obverse and reverse in combination with others.

 

International Asteroid Day Today: More Than 16000 In Nearby Galaxy

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NASA will mark the worldwide observance of International Asteroid Day at 9 a.m. PDT (noon EDT) on Friday, June 30, 2017 with a special television program featuring the agency’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office and other projects working to find and study near-Earth objects (NEOs). There are more than 16,000 asteroids in the vicinity, according to NASA.

The program will air on NASA Television and the program will show how NASA researchers find, track and characterize NEOs — asteroids and comets that come within the vicinity of Earth’s orbit and could pose an impact hazard to Earth. NASA is also working to get the planet prepared to respond to a potential impact threat.

The program will include segments on NASA’s NEO projects from multiple locations, including the agency’s Headquarters in Washington and Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Viewers may submit questions during the program using #AskNASA.

The broadcast will be part of a 24-hour Asteroid Day program from Broadcasting Center Europe, beginning at 6 p.m. PDT (9 p.m. June 29 EDT, 1 a.m. June 30 GMT) and streaming online at:

https://asteroidday.org/live

“At NASA, every day is an asteroid day, but we value the international collaboration for a designated day to call attention to the importance of detecting and tracking hazardous asteroids,” said Planetary Defense Officer Lindley Johnson at NASA Headquarters.

Just two days ago an asteroid flew by Earth on Wednesday at a distance of about 1.1 million miles (1.8 million km), or about 4.6 times the distance from Earth to the moon. Though it was a safer distance from Earth, the encounter is the closest ever any celestial object will have come to Earth in the past 400 years and in the next 500 years, said NASA.

However, the closest flyby of the asteroid has raised concerns among the space scientists about the possibility of a threat from a stray asteroid hitting the Earth and leading to extinction of one-third of the population on the planet, leaving behind huge dent on Earth’s atmosphere and topography.

Ironic but the world is observing the International Asteroid Day on Friday and the closest flyby will set in motion debate over future of mankind on the Earth.

On this day, June 30, 1908, an object measuring 40-meters exploded over Tunguska, Siberia, flattening about 80 million trees over 2,000 sparsely populated square km, that may measure bigger than London. The day is marked as International Asteroid Day.

Though in its 4.5-billion-year history, Earth has been repeatedly pummeled by space rocks which could have annihilated many species and caused huge eruption of ocean waters, scientists are concerned over estimating the possibility and its impact.

“Sooner or later we will get … a minor or major impact,” said Rolf Densing, who heads the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany. “The risk that Earth will get hit in a devastating event one day is very high.”

Among the possible ways of intercepting an approaching asteroid could incldue nuking it or using lasers to vaporize it, while some researchers have proposed a space “tractor” to drag it off course or bumping it into a new direction.

While the smallest objects enter Earth’s atmosphere but get burnt up as shooting stars, medium sized 10-km sized rocks could play havoc on Earth as similar one was believed to have made the dinosaurs extinct.

The largest occur once every 100 million years, researchers said and if it ever happens, it could mean the end of human civilization, they warn.

New Algorithm Can Read Your Mind, Shows Study Using Brain Imaging Technology

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Now brain imaging technology can read what’s going on in your mind by using machine learning algorithm developed by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, Pennsylvania. The new algorithm can ‘read minds’ and identify complex thoughts with 87 per cent accuracy, they claim.

Since the brain’s building blocks for complex thoughts are formed by various sub-systems and not language-based, by measuring the activation in each brain system, the new technology can decipher what kind of thoughts are being contemplated and relay them to the monitors.

“We have finally developed a way to see thoughts of such complexity in the fMRI signal. The discovery of this correspondence between thoughts and brain activation patterns tells us what the thoughts are built of,” says Prof. Marcel Just of Carnegie Mellon University, Pennsylvania, where it was developed.

Based on their study, they could predict the features of the left-out sentence, with 87 per cent accuracy, even among those who were never exposed to its activation before.

“Our method overcomes the unfortunate property of fMRI to smear together the signals emanating from brain events that occur close together in time, like the reading of two successive words in a sentence,” Just said. “This advance makes it possible for the first time to decode thoughts containing several concepts.”

The study has been published in the journal Human Brain Mapping.

FaceBook Reaches 2 Billion Active Users, Doubles in 5 Years

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Facebook has reached 2 billion regular users, a registered Facebook user who logged in and visited Facebook through its website or a mobile device, or used its Messenger app, in the past 30 days.

Describing it as another milestone in its growth from a college curiosity to the world’s largest social media network, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg disclosed the number on a Facebook post. “It’s an honor to be on this journey with you,” he wrote.

The member base is bigger than the population of any single country and of six of the seven continents and it constitutes more than a quarter of the world’s 7.5 billion people, said the company.

The figures for May have also taken into consideration the duplicate accounts, according to an estimate from last year, representing about 6 percent of its worldwide user base. Its nearest rival Twitter has about 328 million as of April and Snapchat has 166 million daily users at the end of the first quarter of 2017. WeChat, a widely used service in China, had 938 million monthly active users in the first quarter of this year.

Facebook had 1.94 billion people as of March 31, an increase of 17 percent from a year earlier. Facebook reached its first 1 billion mark in October 2012 and by now it could have doubled the number, compared to its first half.

Zuckerberg started Facebook in 2004 in his college dorm room, used its huge reach to get advertisers, offering them highly targeted marketing capabilities based on its data about users, sometimes ignoring privacy complaints in the US and elsewhere. It has about 5 million advertisers now.

Facebook’s growth has increasingly come from outside the United States, such as India, which is one of its major users. Three years ago, US, Canada and Europe accounted for 38 percent of users, compared with about 30 percent in the first quarter of this year, said a report.

Mike Nowak, Product Director and Guillermo Spiller, Product Manager of Facebook have on the occasion launched a personalized video to celebrate bringing the world closer together.

“This wouldn’t have happened without the millions of smaller communities and individuals who are sharing and making meaningful contributions every day. Each day, more than 175 million people share a Love reaction, and on average, over 800 million people like something on Facebook. More than 1 billion people use Groups every month.To show our appreciation for the many ways people support one another on Facebook, we will share several personalized experiences over the coming days,” they said in blog post.

COMEDK Declares Cutoff Ranks for First Round Engineering Admissions 2017

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The COMEDK’s online counselling that started on June 12 for registration has completed the First Round of admission counselling with the cutoffs declared for each of the colleges for engineering seats and the last date for admission will be June 29, 2017.

Students are advised to check the First Round cutoff declared on the website and here is the cutoff for top 10 colleges in Bangalore and Mysore, according to the COMEDK notification released today. Architecture notifications will be published shortly, it said.

At a glance, the sets available for RV College of Engineering in computer science are 49 for general merit and 5 for North Karnataka region and the total fee is Rs.170,000. Same is the case for CEC stream.

To check the seat allocation by cutoff rank, please check the link given below on COMEDK official website:

https://www.comedk.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/CUT-OF-RANK-ROUND-1-ALLOTMENT-R1.pdf

(Notified on 28/06/2017)

The students will be given choice until 29th June 2017,11:30 AM to confirm their choice on allotment and to pay fee online from 28th June 2017, 11:00 AM to 30th June 2017,11:30 AM.

The document verification and Allotment letter printing (First come first serve basis) will be done from 6th July 2017 to 10th July 2017. For more details, download the Comedk 2017 Counselling Brochure HERE.

As per the current seat matrix, 45% of seats in private colleges are given under the government quota on the payment of about Rs.50,000 as fee, 30% seats are part of COMEDK quota given under Rs.180,000 per annum fee and the remaining 25%, including the NRI quota, are given by the respective managements on payment of Rs.10 to Rs.30 lakhs depending on their reputation and demand.

When the real allotment is made, students should visit the centre in Bangalore with their original documents and fee payment DDs as specified and get the original allotment letter issued and complete the total fee payment and other formalities.

Here are codes:

COURSE CODE COURSE NAME
ECE Electronics & Communication Engineering
CSE Computer Science & Engineering
ME Mechanical Engineering
EEE Electrical & Electronics Engineering
ISE Information Science & Engineering
CE Civil Engineering
AERSE Aerospace Engineering
BT Biotechnology
TE Telecommunication Engineering
CHE Chemical Engineering
EIE Electronics & Instrumentation Engineering

 

Wildlife Report Calls for Better Human-Wildlife Management to End Conflicts

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Stressing the need to strengthen human-wildlife conflict management across India in view of up to 32 wildlife species damaging life and property in this nation of 1.2 billion people, a recent study published in the July 2017 edition of Human Dimensions of Wildlife sought a better management approach to end the conflict.

The researchers have called for the identification of effective prevention techniques, strengthening existing compensation schemes, and an open inclusive dialogue between local communities, governments, and conservationists.

The authors of the study, “History, Location, and Species Matter: Insights for Human–Wildlife Conflict Mitigation,” are Dr. Krithi Karanth, conservation scientist with the Wildlife Conservation Society and Sahila Kudalkar, research associate with the Centre for Wildlife Studies.

The study examined the patterns of human-wildlife conflict and mitigation use by 5,196 families from 2011 to 2014 from 2855 villages neighboring 11 wildlife reserves across western, central, and southern India. The study was designed to help inform better policies to mitigate human-wildlife conflict.

Some of the results of the research are here:

Of the more than 5,000 households surveyed around 11 reserves in India, crops were lost by 71% of households, livestock by 17%, and human injury and death were reported by 3% of households.

Rural families use up to 12 different mitigation techniques to protect their crops, livestock and property. Night-time watch, scare devices, and fencing are the most common mitigation techniques used by rural families in the periphery of reserves.

Families near reserves in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh were most likely to use mitigation. In recent years, these states have recorded high levels of damage by wildlife, and are among states that provide the highest compensation payments across India. In contrast, families in Rajasthan were least likely to protect crops and property.

Across wildlife reserves, people reported average crop losses amounting to Rs. 12,559 (US$194) , and Rs.2,883 (US$44)of livestock losses annually. Such losses constitute a significant chunk of India’s rural economy, where the majority of the population earns less than Rs. 5,000 (US$77) per month.

Said Dr. Karanth: “Resolving human-wildlife conflict requires revisiting the goals of conservation policies and investments by people and organizations. This is especially true with respect to effort and money deployed associated with mitigation and protection. People may be better served by deploying early warning, compensation and insurance programs rather than by focusing heavily on mitigation.”

Said Sahila Kudalkar, “Combined with high poverty, and low awareness regarding government compensation, such families may be most vulnerable to impacts of wildlife damage upon their livelihoods.”

The study was supported by DST Ramanujan Fellowship, National Geographic Society, National Science Foundation, and Rufford Foundation.

‘Shocked and Hurt,’ Retorts Sridevi to Rajamouli’s Remarks on Bahubali Role

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The ongoing issue over Sridevi rejecting the role in Bahubali has reached its peak with director Rajamouli baring the facts in an interview to a daily that the veteran actress had asked for more fees among other demands.

“After hearing series of wishes from her, our team got fed up. We also thought that it would be above our budget to meet her demands. Then we approached Ramya Krishna and she proved herself fantastic and we now feel, we were lucky that we dropped the idea of having Sridevi in our film.”

The second part of the view that they were lucky to drop Sridevi must have irked any actor and the retort was equally strong. “I was shocked and hurt by his interview. Rajamouli is a calm and dignified person. I was very happy to work with him. But, the way he spoke about the issue made me feel very sad,” said the veteran actress who grew up in films from the age of 5 to 54, her current age.

Despite busy with the promotions of her upcoming film ‘Mom’, the actress confirmed that she did turn down the offer in Bahubali for her own reasons and not because of the remuneration.

“I would like to talk about this. It has become such a big issue and people are imagining things [as to why I have said no the film]. I have my own reasons. First of all two parts of Baahubali have come out, and now they are asking me. There are many films, I refused. Why are they not talking about it? Why only this film? I will go there and talk about it,” she told the Telugu news channel NTV.

On Rajamouli remarks, she said, “I don’t know if the producer wrongly told Rajamouli that I made all these demands but it is not in good taste to speak like this.”

 

US Statement on Modi Visit Says ‘Prosperity Through Partnership’ with India

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Following Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit, the White House issued a statement listing a huge array of opportunites explored together in trade, cultural and scientific areas.

“The visit reinforced the close ties between the United States and India that have strengthened both great democracies,” said the statement. Here is the full text of the Highlights issued by the White House:

“Global Partners on Defense and Security

  • Major Defense Partner. The United States remains a reliable provider of advanced defense articles in support of India’s military modernization efforts. United States-sourced defense articles, including the Sea Guardian Unmanned Aerial System, Apache attack helicopters, and C-17 aircraft will further enhance the capabilities of the Indian Armed Forces and provide additional opportunities for interoperability. Completion of these sales would increase bilateral defense trade to nearly $19 billion, supporting thousands of United States jobs. If selected, United State offers to sell F-16 and F/A-18 fighter aircraft to India would represent the most significant defense cooperation between the United States and India to date.
  • DTTI. The United States-India Defense Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI) remains the premier forum for deepening collaboration on defense co-development and co-production. The seven DTTI Joint Working Groups continue to discuss a range of technologies and platforms for potential co-development, including India’s participation in the Future Vertical Lift program. DTTI representatives met most recently in April 2017.
  • Military-Military Engagements. Key military and civilian defense leaders continue to meet via reciprocal counterpart visits and strategic and policy dialogues, promoting closer service ties and improving interoperability among our forces. The annual MALABAR naval exercise, occurring in July 2017 in the Indian Ocean, will be the most complex to date, including participants from the U.S. Navy, Indian Navy, and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force. The United States and India also participate in the VAJRA PRAHAR Special Forces exercise, the RED FLAG air force exercise, and YUDH ABHYAS army exercise.
  • Counter-Terrorism Partnership. The United States and India are committed to combatting terrorism in all its forms and to strengthening cooperation on terrorist screening, intelligence, and information sharing, terrorist use of the internet, and multilateral terrorist designations. Reflecting this partnership, the U.S. Terrorist Screening Center and Indian counterparts are cross-screening known and suspected terrorists for investigative and intelligence purposes.
  • Law Enforcement Cooperation. The United States has provided anti-terrorism assistance training for more than 1,200 Indian security personnel since 2008.
  • Facilitating Strategic Trade. The High Technology Cooperation Group (HTCG) facilitates greater civil high technology and defense trade between American and Indian businesses, leveraging India’s status as a Major Defense Partner. In 1999, 24 percent of all exports from the United States to India required an export license. Currently, licensed exports still make up only a small percentage of trade with India; in 2016, only 0.4 percent required a license, commensurate with the United States’ closest allies and partners.

Committed to Increasing Free and Fair Trade

  • Trade. Two-way trade in goods and services reached $114 billion in 2016. With the Indian economy growing at 7 percent annually, both countries are committed to further expanding and balancing the trade relationship.
  • Aviation. In 2017, Indian airline SpiceJet announced the order of 100 new Boeing 737MAX-8s, bringing its order to 205 planes valued at more than $20 billion and, according to industry, creating and sustaining 130,000 American jobs in the state of Washington and elsewhere. At the Paris Air Show in June, SpiceJet announced a preliminary commitment for an additional 20 Boeing aircraft.
  • India is projected to become the world’s third-largest commercial aviation market by 2020. Through the U.S-India Aviation Cooperation Program, the United States has increased the safety and security of India’s rapidly growing aviation sector, and generated over $600 million in exports of U.S. manufactured goods and services.
  • Trade Facilitation. The United States and India, both signatories to the World Trade Organization’s Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), are working together to implement the TFA’s provisions and help lower the cost of trade for both our countries.
  • Investment. According to the Government of India, the United States is one of the top five destinations for investment from India. The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis reports that Indian companies have invested over $11 billion in the United States economy, creating and sustaining more than 52,000 jobs. Industry sources indicate these investments are spread across 35 states.
  • Capital Markets. The Department of Treasury and Indian Ministry of Finance continue to collaborate on resolving outstanding tax disputes, building Indian capital markets, and promoting greater bilateral investment. Enhanced technical cooperation includes areas such as the development of India’s municipal bond market. The just-completed issuance of a municipal bond for the city of Pune was India’s first municipal issuance since 2011.

Powering the New India

  • Liquefied Natural Gas Exports and Investment. Indian energy companies have signed more than $30 billion in long-term contracts for U.S.-produced liquefied natural gas (LNG), including from Louisiana and Maryland. Industry estimates that Indian companies have invested more than $10 billion in the United States LNG and shale sectors.
  • Nuclear Power. The United States and India are committed to realizing commercial civil nuclear cooperation, in particular through a contract for six Westinghouse Electric AP-1000 nuclear reactors to be built in Andhra Pradesh, India. Once completed, the project will provide reliable electricity for millions of Indian citizens.
  • Fossil Energy. The U.S. Trade and Development Agency will host a Refineries Performance Optimization Reverse Trade Mission in fall 2017, familiarizing senior executives from Indian refining companies with U.S. technologies that can optimize the performance of India’s oil refineries.
  • Grid Expansion and Modernization. The Department of Commerce will lead a Smart Grid and Energy Storage Business Development Mission to New Delhi, Hyderabad, and Mumbai in March 2018 to showcase U.S. technologies and services that can help India address its grid modernization needs. The two countries also announced the Smart Grid and Energy Storage consortia under the U.S.-India Joint Clean Energy and Research Development Center.
  • Energy Finance. The U.S.-India Clean Energy Finance Task Force is delivering recommendations to mobilize U.S. technology exports and American and Indian private investment in India’s $1.2 trillion power market. Additionally, the Department of State is facilitating connections between American and Indian industry, state governments, and universities to advance energy solutions.

Expanding Ties Between Our Citizens

  • Today, nearly 4 million Indian-Americans reside in the United States and over 700,000 U.S. citizens live in India. Last year, the United States Government issued nearly one million visas to Indian citizens, and facilitated 1.7 million visits by Indian citizens to the United States.
  • Global Entry Trusted Traveler Program. The United States began accepting applications from India for the expedited entry program, facilitating travel in both directions that will lead to more business, investment, and tourism. In 2016, Indian visitors in the United States spent nearly $13 billion, making India the sixth largest market for U.S. travel and tourism exports.
  • Skills Development. More than 166,000 Indian students studied in the United States in 2016, contributing $5 billion in economic activity and supporting some 64,000 American jobs. Over the last decade, Indian students contributed $31 billion to the U.S. economy.
  • Entrepreneurship. The United States and India will co-host a Global Entrepreneurship Summit this year in India, focused on supporting women entrepreneurs, and geared toward solving 21st century challenges and improving lives. President Trump has asked Ivanka Trump to lead the United States delegation to the Global Entrepreneurship Summit.
  • Indian Americans have embraced innovation and entrepreneurship, sitting at the forefront of Silicon Valley’s technology revolution, and founding an estimated 15 percent of Silicon Valley startups. They have helped to develop the Pentium chip, fiber optics, and noise canceling headphones, among numerous other innovations.

Tackling Global Challenges

  • Exploring Space. The United States and India are working together in the exploration of space, from discovering water on the surface of the Moon to sharing data on Mars from our respective orbiters. The joint NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite, scheduled for launch in 2021, will help scientists to better understand some of Earth’s most complex systems and hazards.
  • Afghanistan Development. The United States and India support increased stability and prosperity in Afghanistan and their expanded development coordination and cooperation benefits all three countries. India has spent $2 billion on development assistance to Afghanistan since 2001, and pledged an additional $1 billion in 2016. In September 2017, the United States will co-sponsor the India-Afghanistan Export, Trade and Investment Fair in New Delhi, to promote expanded Afghan commercial ties with India.
  • Global Agriculture Cooperation. Fifty years after the Green Revolution helped India to free millions from hunger, the United States and India have trained more than 1,500 agricultural practitioners from 17 countries across Africa and Asia on specialized farming practices to improve productivity and income.
  • U.N. Peacekeeping Burden Sharing. India and the United States remain committed to U.N. peacekeeping and building the capacity of African partners, training participants from 13 countries and the African Union. The two sides will conduct additional joint training in July 2017 and lead a mobile training team in Africa this fall.
  • Disease Research and Treatment. For more than 40 years, the United States has collaborated with India on disease research, including tuberculosis (TB), HIV, and rotavirus, and non-communicable diseases – cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. The United States supports India’s ambitious goal to end TB by 2025, through the scale-up of detection, diagnosis, and new treatments for drug-resistant TB.

Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA). As GHSA Steering Group members, the United States and India recognize the importance of strengthening global capacity to counter infectious disease threats. India is working across sectors to address antimicrobial resistance (AMR) stewardship, a key threat to global health security and modern medicine. The United States remains committed to supporting India as it develops and implements multi-sectoral national action plans to combat AMR and two national AMR networks for the use of antimicrobial surveillance.”

US President Upbeat as Supreme Court Upholds Decision on Travel Ban

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US President Donald Trump has termed the Supreme Court decision as a clear victory for the country’s national security. He said the court verdict allows him to use the directive as an important tool for protecting the Nation’s homeland. He has appreciated that the court decision was unanimous at 9-0.

A statement by the White House said, “It allows the travel suspension for the six terror-prone countries and the refugee suspension to become largely effective.”

President Rump said, “As President, I cannot allow people into our country who want to do us harm. I want people who can love the United States and all of its citizens, and who will be hardworking and productive.”

Earlier, a White House spokesperson said the US government will review the decision and determine how to proceed.

The March 6 travel ban imposed a 90-day ban on travelers from Libya, Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen and a 120-day ban on all refugees entering the United States in order to implement stronger vetting procedures citing recent hike in crimes and attacks on American citizens.

The U.S. Supreme Court in its verdict on Monday upheld President Trump’s temporary bans on travelers from all these six Muslim-majority countries and all refugees and agreed to hear his appeals in the closely watched legal battle that brings cheer to Trump administration for the first time since it took over on January 20, 2017.

The court granted parts of his administration’s emergency request to put the order into effect immediately while the legal battle continues. It said the travel ban will go into effect “with respect to foreign nationals who lack any bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States.”

The Supreme Court however allowed the lower-court injunctions against the ban pertaining to people in the United States who have relatives as foreign nationals abroad and whose rights might be affected if those foreigners were excluded from entry.