Science
News This Week:
1) Ebola
continues rapid spread in West Africa:
Ebola has
now infected about 9,000 people and killed nearly 4,500, including 263 health
care workers, the World Health Organization reported Wednesday. These numbers
are probably an underestimate, WHO officials said.
Disease
transmission is still rampant in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, although in
some parts of those countries the number of new cases is falling. Those
improvements are welcome, but overall the numbers of cases and deaths continue
to climb. Countries must work to stamp Ebola out entirely, said WHO assistant
director-general Bruce Aylward in a call with reporters on Tuesday. “This is
Ebola. It is a horrible, unforgiving disease. You’ve got to get down to zero”
cases, he said.
Senegal
and Nigeria are poised to declare victory over the deadly virus. In August, a
Guinean man got sick with the virus while staying with relatives in Senegal. No
one else fell ill, and tests on September 5 showed the man is no longer
infected. On Friday, Senegal will reach 42 days without a new case, a benchmark
that WHO uses to determine whether a country is Ebola-free.
Nigeria
will reach that goal on Monday. Officials are tracking 891 contacts of
Nigeria’s 20 Ebola patients. Those contacts have already remained disease-free
well past the virus’s incubation period of 21 days
2)
Scientific breakthrough will help design antibiotics of the future:
Researchers
at the University of Bristol focused on the role of enzymes in the bacteria,
which split the structure of the antibiotic and stop it working, making the
bacteria resistant.The new findings, published in Chemical Communications, show
that it's possible to test how enzymes react to certain antibiotics.
It's
hoped this insight will help scientists to develop new antibiotics with a much
lower risk of resistance, and to choose the best medicines for specific
outbreaks.Using a Nobel Prize-winning technique called QM/MM -- quantum
mechanics/molecular mechanics simulations - the Bristol research team were able
to gain a molecular-level insight into how enzymes called 'beta-lactamases'
react to antibiotics.Researchers specifically want to understand the growing
resistance to carbapenems, which are known as the 'last resort' antibiotics for
many bacterial infections and super bugs such as E. coli.
Resistance
to carbapenems makes some bacterial infections untreatable, resulting in minor
infections becoming very dangerous and potentially deadly.The QM/MM simulations
revealed that the most important step in the whole process is when the enzyme
'spits out' the broken down antibiotic. If this happens quickly, then the
enzyme is able to go on chewing up antibiotics and the bacterium is resistant.
If it happens slowly, then the enzyme gets 'clogged up' and can't break down
any more antibiotics, so the bacterium is more likely to die.The rate of this
'spitting out' depends on the height of the energy barrier for the reaction --
if the barrier is high, it happens slowly; if it's low, it happens much more
quickly.
Professor
Adrian Mulholland, from Bristol University's School of Chemistry, said:
"We've shown that we can use computer simulations to identify which
enzymes break down and spit out carbapenems quickly and those that do it only
slowly.
"This
means that these simulations can be used in future to test enzymes and predict
and understand resistance. We hope that this will identify how they act against
different drugs - a useful tool in developing new antibiotics and helping to
choose which drugs might be best for treating a particular outbreak."
3)
Researchers develop world's thinnest electric generator:
Researchers
from Columbia Engineering and the Georgia Institute of Technology report today
that they have made the first experimental observation of piezoelectricity and
the piezotronic effect in an atomically thin material, molybdenum disulfide
(MoS2), resulting in a unique electric generator and mechanosensation devices
that are optically transparent, extremely light, and very bendable and
stretchable. In a paper published online October 15, 2014, in Nature, research
groups from the two institutions demonstrate the mechanical generation of
electricity from the two-dimensional (2D) MoS2 material. The piezoelectric
effect in this material had previously been predicted theoretically.
Piezoelectricity
is a well-known effect in which stretching or compressing a material causes it
to generate an electrical voltage (or the reverse, in which an applied voltage
causes it to expand or contract). But for materials of only a few atomic thicknesses,
no experimental observation of piezoelectricity has been made, until now. The
observation reported today provides a new property for two-dimensional
materials such as molybdenum disulfide, opening the potential for new types of
mechanically controlled electronic devices."This material -- just a single
layer of atoms -- could be made as a wearable device, perhaps integrated into
clothing, to convert energy from your body movement to electricity and power
wearable sensors or medical devices, or perhaps supply enough energy to charge
your cell phone in your pocket," says James Hone, professor of mechanical
engineering at Columbia and co-leader of the research."Proof of the
piezoelectric effect and piezotronic effect adds new functionalities to these
two-dimensional materials," says Zhong Lin Wang, Regents' Professor in
Georgia Tech's School of Materials Science and Engineering and a co-leader of
the research. "The materials community is excited about molybdenum
disulfide, and demonstrating the piezoelectric effect in it adds a new facet to
the material."
Hone and
his research group demonstrated in 2008 that graphene, a 2D form of carbon, is
the strongest material. He and Lei Wang, a postdoctoral fellow in Hone's group,
have been actively exploring the novel properties of 2D materials like graphene
and MoS2 as they are stretched and compressed.Zhong Lin Wang and his research
group pioneered the field of piezoelectric nanogenerators for converting
mechanical energy into electricity. He and postdoctoral fellow Wenzhuo Wu are
also developing piezotronic devices, which use piezoelectric charges to control
the flow of current through the material just as gate voltages do in
conventional three-terminal transistors.
There are
two keys to using molybdenum disulfide for generating current: using an odd
number of layers and flexing it in the proper direction. The material is highly
polar, but, Zhong Lin Wang notes, so an even number of layers cancels out the
piezoelectric effect. The material's crystalline structure also is
piezoelectric in only certain crystalline orientations.For the Nature study,
Hone's team placed thin flakes of MoS2 on flexible plastic substrates and
determined how their crystal lattices were oriented using optical techniques.
They then patterned metal electrodes onto the flakes. In research done at
Georgia Tech, Wang's group installed measurement electrodes on samples provided
by Hone's group, then measured current flows as the samples were mechanically
deformed. They monitored the conversion of mechanical to electrical energy, and
observed voltage and current outputs.
The
researchers also noted that the output voltage reversed sign when they changed
the direction of applied strain, and that it disappeared in samples with an
even number of atomic layers, confirming theoretical predictions published last
year. The presence of piezotronic effect in odd layer MoS2 was also observed
for the first time."What's really interesting is we've now found that a
material like MoS2, which is not piezoelectric in bulk form, can become
piezoelectric when it is thinned down to a single atomic layer," says Lei
Wang.To be piezoelectric, a material must break central symmetry. A single
atomic layer of MoS2 has such a structure, and should be piezoelectric. However,
in bulk MoS2, successive layers are oriented in opposite directions, and
generate positive and negative voltages that cancel each other out and give
zero net piezoelectric effect."This adds another member to the family of
piezoelectric materials for functional devices," says Wenzhuo Wu.
In fact,
MoS2 is just one of a group of 2D semiconducting materials known as transition
metal dichalcogenides, all of which are predicted to have similar piezoelectric
properties. These are part of an even larger family of 2D materials whose
piezoelectric materials remain unexplored. Importantly, as has been shown by
Hone and his colleagues, 2D materials can be stretched much farther than
conventional materials, particularly traditional ceramic piezoelectrics, which
are quite brittle.The research could open the door to development of new
applications for the material and its unique properties.
"This
is the first experimental work in this area and is an elegant example of how
the world becomes different when the size of material shrinks to the scale of a
single atom," Hone adds. "With what we're learning, we're eager to
build useful devices for all kinds of applications."Ultimately, Zhong Lin
Wang notes, the research could lead to complete atomic-thick nanosystems that
are self-powered by harvesting mechanical energy from the environment. This
study also reveals the piezotronic effect in two-dimensional materials for the
first time, which greatly expands the application of layered materials for
human-machine interfacing, robotics, MEMS, and active flexible electronics.
4) New
sequencing reveals genetic history of tomatoes:
This
week, an international team of researchers, led by the Chinese Academy of
Agricultural Sciences in Beijing, is publishing in the journal Nature Genetics
a brief genomic history of tomato breeding, based on sequencing of 360
varieties of the tomato plant. The C.M. Rick Tomato Genetics Resource Center
here at UC Davis played an important role in this study by providing seed of
both cultivated tomato varieties and related wild species.
This
study, which builds on the first tomato genome sequence completed just two
years ago, shows in great detail how the processes of early domestication and
modern breeding influenced the genetic makeup of cultivated tomatoes. (UC Davis
researchers also led an effort to sequence the genome of a wild relative of the
cultivated tomato.)
Analysis
of the genome sequences of these 360 varieties and wild strains shows which
regions of the genome were under selection during domestication and breeding.
The study identified two independent sets of genes responsible for making the
fruit of modern commercial tomatoes 100 times larger than their wild ancestors.
An
important finding is that specific regions of the tomato genome were unintentionally
depleted in genetic variation: for example, in DNA around genes conferring
larger fruit size or genes for resistance to diseases afflicting tomato plants.
These
stretches of genetic uniformity illustrate the need to increase overall genetic
diversity in modern varieties and highlight the important role that the Rick
Tomato Genetics Resource Center and similar collections play in housing much of
the genetic variability that will be critical for future breeding and research
on tomato.
5) How to
Replicate Hawking Radiation in a Lab:
Jeff
Steinhauer, a physicist at the Institute of Technology in Israel, has
successfully devised a way of producing Hawking Radiation in a lab. The paper detailing this method was published
in Nature Physics. Before we delve into it, let’s first dive into the radiation
itself.
What is
Hawking Radiation?
Hawking
radiation is a type of electromagnetic radiation emitted by a black body, which
is defined as a physical body, like a black hole, that absorbs all
electromagnetic radiation. However black holes are not perfect black bodies, as
Stephen Hawking predicted 40 years ago, because they emit a type of radiation
known as Hawking Radiation.
More
specifically, Hawking Radiation (also known as Bekenstein-Hawking Radiation)
asserts that black holes, through vacuum fluctuations, bleed radiation
generated from the annihilation of particle-antiparticle pairs. When one of
these particles, called a virtual particle, falls into the black hole before
annihilating the other, the net effect is that one particle is emitted from the
black hole (outside of the event horizon, the point at which nothing that
enters can escape).
As a
general rule, virtual particles only comes into existence for an
infinitesimally small period of time. (As an interesting side-note, from a
quantum physics point of view, these particles can be generated out of
nothingness, happening all throughout space indiscriminately). However, they
usually annihilate each other before they meaningfully manifest. This, paired with the fact that the existence
of these particles is intrinsically tied to black holes, Hawking Radiation is
difficult to reproduce and even more difficult to observe. So, how did they do
it?
How is it
Being Recreated?
Jeff
Steinauer, along with many other physicists in the field interested in studying
related phenomena, approach the theory
on the basis that quantum fluids can replicate the behavior of particles near
the event horizon of a black hole. The experiment begins with supercooling
rubidium atoms to just above absolute zero. Once the temperature is
successfully brought down, lasers are used to make the atoms move at supersonic
speeds, which, in turn, will cause sound waves to become trapped inside the
fluid. They then behave as virtual pairs of particles, quickly appearing and
disappearing when some of the particles fall in. This procedure creates a
narrow, low density, very low temperature atomic Bose–Einstein condensate.
It, thereby generates an analogue
black-hole with an event horizon and an inner horizon.
This
method took Steinhauer five years to perfect, and might be “the most robust and
clear-cut evidence” that laboratory models can reproduce — as described by
Daniele Faccio, an experimental physicist at Heriot-Watt University in
Edinburgh. The experiment can bring physics closer to understanding gravity,
and hopefully shed light on a quantum model for gravity, as it is the only
fundamental force of nature that has not been expressed in terms of quantum
mechanics.
It is
extremely difficult to tell whether this experiment fully mimics Hawking
Radiation due to the difficulty in observing black holes and virtual particle
pairs, however the paper has brought physics closer to understanding the
mechanics of the daunting black hole.
Movie
Release This Week:
April,
1945. As the Allies make their final push in the European Theatre, a
battle-hardened army sergeant named Wardaddy (Brad Pitt) commands a Sherman
tank and her five-man crew on a deadly mission behind enemy lines. Outnumbered
and outgunned, Wardaddy and his men face overwhelming odds in their heroic
attempts to strike at the heart of Nazi Germany.
The story
of Dawson and Amanda, two former high school sweethearts who find themselves
reunited after 20 years apart, when they return to their small town for the
funeral of the beloved friend. Their bittersweet reunion reignites the love
they've never forgotten, but soon they discover the forces that drove them
apart twenty years ago live on, posing even more serious threats today.
Spanning decades, this epic love story captures the enduring power of our first
true love, and the wrenching choices we face when confronted with elusive
second chances.
Riggan
Thompson was Birdman, a crime-stopping superhero with a beak and a three-film
franchise. Now, he's a washed up actor trying to get his career and life back
together by opening his own play on Broadway. On the eve of it's opening, the
play is close to falling apart and Riggan is forced to sign a younger,
egotistical lead actor, whom he despises. What results over the next three days
is strange, dark and downright hilarious, nearly costing Riggan his career,
family and sanity in the process.
From
producer Guillermo del Toro and director Jorge Gutierrez comes an animated
comedy with a unique visual style. THE BOOK OF LIFE is the journey of Manolo, a
young man who is torn between fulfilling the expectations of his family and
following his heart. Before choosing which path to follow, he embarks on an
incredible adventure that spans three fantastical worlds where he must face his
greatest fears. Rich with a fresh take on pop music favorites, THE BOOK OF LIFE
encourages us to celebrate the past while looking forward to the future.
In
Felony, starring Jai Courtney, Melissa George, Joel Edgerton, Sarah Roberts and
Tom Wilkinson, three detectives become embroiled in a tense struggle after a
tragic accident leaves a child in critical condition. How far will these men go
to disguise and unravel the truth?
Political
News This Week:
1) India
successfully test-fires cruise missile Nirbhay:
India on
Friday successfully test-fired its indigenously developed sub-sonic long range
cruise missile, 'Nirbhay' from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur,
Odisha."The missile was test-fired from a mobile launcher positioned at
launch pad 3 of the Integrated Test Range at about 10.03 hours," said an
official soon after the flight took off from the launch ground."Flight
details will be available after data retrieved from radars and telemetry
points, monitoring the trajectories, are analysed," the official said.It
is the second test of the sub-sonic long range cruise missile 'Nirbhay' from
the ITR.
The
maiden flight, conducted on March 12, 2013 could not achieve all the desired
parameters as "the flight had to be terminated mid-way when deviations
were observed from its intended course," sources said.
India has
in its arsenal the 290 km range supersonic "BrahMos" cruise missile
which is jointly developed by India and Russia. But 'Nirbhay' with long range
capability is a different kind of missile being developed by the Defence
Research and Development Organisation.Nirbhay has good loitering capability,
good control and guidance, high degree of accuracy in terms of impact and very
good stealth features.Low-flying cruise missiles such as the Nirbhay can easily
slip past enemy air-defence systems due to small radar cross section.The
Nirbhay will be configured to be launched from multiple platforms such as land,
air and sea.
The
missile, which could be compared with the American Tomahawk missile, has a
strike range of around 750 to 1,000 km and is expected to supplement the
Indo-Russian joint venture supersonic cruise missile BrahMos, which can carry
warheads up to 290 km.While India is yet to have its own technology to develop
supersonic or hypersonic cruise missiles, the Missile Technology Control Regime
prohibits the signatories from providing technology to any other country
developing a cruise missile with a range greater than or equal to 300 km.
2) SC
grants Jayalalithaa bail in assets case:
In a
major relief to jailed All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief J
Jayalalithaa, the Supreme Court on Friday granted her bail in a
disproportionate assets case in which she was sentenced to four-year jail
term.A bench headed by Chief Justice H L Dattu stayed the sentence and warned
Jayalalithaa against causing any delay by seeking adjournment in her appeal in
Karnataka high court.
The bench
directed Jayalalithaa to file paperbook of her appeal in the high court within
two months. “If paperbook is not filed within two months, then we won’t give
you even a single day more,” the bench said.It refused to dispose of the bail
plea and posted the case for hearing on December 18 to ensure that Jayalalithaa
complies with its order. The bench also said that it would ask the high court
to dispose of her appeal within three months.In an hour-long hearing, initially
the bench expressed reservation on granting bail to her, saying she had delayed
the trial proceedings for years and if she is allowed to come out on bail then
appeal would be decided in two decades.Senior advocate Fali S Nariman,
appearing for Jayalalithaa, assured the court that the matter would not be
delayed, saying that he was willing to give the statement on affidavit that no
adjournment would be taken by her in the high court.
“I
undertake that no delay would be caused while appeal is heard by high court. It
is not a game. It may have been a game before. You can record my statement,”
Nariman told the bench.The apex court also granted bail to Jayalalithaa’s close
aide Sasikala and her relatives V N Sudhakaran, disowned foster-son of the
former chief minister, and Ilavarasi.While pressing for bail in the apex court,
Jayalalithaa even pleaded that she is ready to be confined in a house for
two-three months till her appeal is decided by the high court. The bench,
however, said it cannot pass such an “unusual” order for house confinement and
she can either be granted or denied bail.The bench asked Nariman within how
many months would hearing of her appeal be completed.
Nariman
replied that he requires six weeks’ time to file the paperbook as it contains
5,000 pages which have to be translated and the hearing can be completed by the
high court by the end of January or February next year.Bharatiya Janata Party
leader Subramanian Swamy, who had filed a complaint against Jayalalithaa after
which probe was conducted against her, strongly opposed the bail plea of the
AIADMK chief.He contended that it is an exceptional case and bail be denied to
her. He also raised questions on the law and order problem created in Tamil
Nadu by her party workers.The bench, thereafter, asked Jayalalithaa to direct
her party workers not to create such problems and said that it will take
serious objection if it comes to know that the disturbances are caused by political
workers on her instruction.Jayalalithaa, who was denied bail by Karnataka high
court following her conviction and four year sentence in a graft case, had
moved the apex court for bail on October 9.
The
AIADMK chief, who has been behind bars since September 27, had challenged the
HC order which had refused her bail.Jayalalithaa had pleaded that she had been
sentenced to only four years jail in the case and she was also suffering from
various ailments as grounds for her immediate relief.The former CM had also
cited grounds of being senior citizen and woman for getting out of jail. The
66-year-old politician was denied bail by the HC on October 7 despite the
special public prosecutor not objecting to grant of conditional bail to her.The
special court had held Jayalalithaa and three others guilty of corruption. The
court had also slapped a fine of Rs 100 crore on the AIADMK chief and Rs 10
crore fine on each of the three other convicts.
3) Burdwan
blast: IEDs found in house where militants were staying:
Sleuths
of the National Investigation Agency and the National Security Guard
investigating the Burdwan blast on Thursday found IEDs in the attic of the
two-storey house in Khagragarh where the militants were staying.
The
‘armoury’ of the militants was only 100 metres from the two-storey house at
Khagragarh in Bengal’s Burdwan district where they militants were staying,
sources told rediff.com.
Investigators
had found the name of one Rizaul Shaikh on the palm of Abdul Hakim alias Hasan,
who was injured in the October 2 explosion. NIA sleuths, while interrogating
Hasan in their custody came to know that the latter had informed Shaikh about
the blast around noon, and that Shaikh and his family had gone into hiding,
The NIA
reached Shaikh’s residence at Badsahi Road near Khagragarh on Thursday with
sniffer dogs, and discovered the ‘armoury’ in a loft above the toilet. The
opening to the loft was too narrow and the NIA had to take the help of a local
teenager to peep in. On being told that the space was full of ‘heavy-looking’
sacks, the NIA started digging.
The loft
was laden with hand grenades and improvised explosive devices. NSG commandos
thereafter took over and detonated the IEDs.
4) Haryana
goes to polls in high stakes multi-cornered fight:
The fate
of 1,351 candidates will be sealed by 1.63 crore voters in high-stakes
multi-cornered contest in Haryana which goes to polls on Wednesday with top
guns including the kin of the three famous 'Lals' battling it out in the
state.After the hectic poll campaign came to an end at 6 pm on Monday, many
parties on Tuesday issued advertisements in the newspapers appealing for vote
for Wednesday’s polling to the 90 member state assemblyAbout 1.63 crore voters,
including 87.37 lakh women, will decide the fate of 1,351 candidates, including
109 women, in 16,357 polling stations.The main contestants include top guns
like Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Randeep Surjewala (Congress), former
Chief Minister Om Parkash Chautala's son Abhay, daughter-in-law Naina and grandson
Dushyant (Indian National Lok Dal), former Union Minister Venod Sharma and his
wife Shakti Rani (Haryana Jan Chetna Party-Venod), former Member of Parliament
Kuldeep Bishnoi, his wife Renuka and elder brother former Deputy Chief Minister
Chander Mohan (Haryana Janhit Congres-BL).
Other
main candidates include Haryana Bharatiya Janata Party President Ram Bilas
Sharma and Abhimanyu (BJP), Arvind Sharma (Bahujan Samaj Party) and Gopal Kanda
(Haryana Lokhit Party), who was booked in the Geetika Sharma suicide case.
Unlike in
the recent past, when the fight has mainly been limited between the Congress
and Indian National Lok Dal, a number of new players have thrown their hats in
the ring this time.Besides the Congress and the INLD, the BJP is trying to come
to power on its own for the first time since the formation of Haryana in 1966.
Apart from banking on the anti-incumbency factor, the BJP is hoping that the
"Modi factor" will work in its favour like in the Lok Sabha, in which
it got seven of the eight seats it contested from Haryana.
Prime
Minister Narendra Modi aggressively campaigned for the BJP in Haryana appealing
the voters to give the party a chance to take the state on path of
development.The Congress is eyeing a win for the third time in a row, mainly
banking on the development card while main opposition INLD is seeking to return
to power after a decade of hiatus, banking on the charisma of its President Om
Prakash Chautala and consolidation of the Jat vote, besides other factors.Two
new parties -- former Union Minister Venod Sharma-led Jan Chetna Party and
former MP Kuldeep Bishnoi led Haryana Janhit Congress-BL are fighting the polls
in alliance and both outfits will mainly bank on consolidation of the non-Jat
votes.
Independent
Member of Legislative Assembly Gopal Kanda's Haryana Lokhit Party, besides the
BSP and the Left parties are also trying their luck.BSP has roped in former
Karnal Member of Parliament and prominent Brahmin face Arvind Sharma, who is
the party's chief ministerial candidate. Two-time Chief Minister Bhupinder
Singh Hooda, son of veteran freedom fighter late Chaudhary Ranbir Singh, is
seeking re-election from his Garhi Sampla Kiloi constituency in Rohtak
district.
While
Haryana's famous 'Lals'-- Devi Lal, Bansi Lal and Bhajan Lal -- may have
dominated the state's political landscape for decades, their progenies and kin
who are contesting from different seats this time hope to keep the family name
flying high.
Devi
Lal's son former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala and the latter's son Ajay
Singh may be out of the contest this time in the wake of their sentencing in
the teachers' recruitment scam last year, prestige is at stake for the kin who
are in fray fighting from the seats represented by the jailed
leaders.Chautala's another son and senior INLD leader Abhay Singh is seeking
re-election from Ellenabad Assembly segment. Naina Singh, wife of Ajay Singh
Chautala, has entered the poll arena from her husband's Dabwali segment and has
become the first woman from Devi Lal's clan to enter politics.
Her son
and Hissar MP Dushyant Chautala is fighting from Uchana Kalan, the seat
represented by O P Chautala at present. The Congress has nominated Devi Lal's
youngest son Ranjit Singh from Rania constituency.
Former
Chief Minister Bhajan Lal's younger son and HJC President Kuldeep Bishnoi, has
entered the fray from the family's pocket borough Adampur constituency while
Bishnoi's wife Renuka is contesting from Hansi.
Bhajan
Lal's elder son and former Deputy Chief Minister Chander Mohan is contesting
from the Nalwa segment. The kin of late Bansi Lal, who was considered as the
architect of modern Haryana, have again entered the fray to retain hold over
their traditional turfs.
Bansi
Lal's son and former Board of Control for Cricket in India President Ranbir
Singh Mahendra, daughter-in-law (late Surender Singh's wife) and Haryana
Minister Kiran Chaudhary and Lal's son-in-law Sombir Singh are contesting as
Congress candidates from Badhra, Tosham and Loharu segments in the Bhiwani
district.
Among
other top guns in the fray are Haryana cabinet minister and Congress's national
spokesman Randeep Singh Surjewala, seeking re-election from Kaithal
constituency.
The BJP's
chief ministerial aspirants state unit chief Ram Bilas Sharma, party's
spokesman Capt Abhimanyu and former Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leader Manohar
Lal Khattar are in the fray from Mahendargarh, Narnaund (Hissar) and Karnal
assembly segments, respectively.Congress Minister Savitri Jindal is seeking re-election
from Hissar segment. Savitri is the wife of former Haryana Minister late O P
Jindal and mother of former MP and noted industrialist Naveen Jindal.
Another
Haryana Minister Capt Ajay Singh Yadav is seeking re-election from his
stronghold Rewari assembly segment for a record seventh time. Contesting an
election for the first time from Safidon seat, teacher-turned-politician
Vandana Sharma is the younger sister of External Affairs Minister Sushma
Swaraj. Vandana has entered the fray as a BJP candidate.
Haryana
Jan Chetna Party chief Venod Sharma, who snapped his four-decade old ties with
the Congress, is seeking re-election from AmbalaCity constituency while his
wife Shakti Rani is in the fray from Kalka assembly segment.
Gopal
Kanda, currently out on bail in connection with airhostess Geetika Sharma
suicide case, is seeking re-election from Sirsa constituency. The total of
1,351 candidates including 109 women, the highest number in state's history,
are in the electoral fray this time.Those in fray includes 90 each of the BJP
and the Congress both of which are contesting all the seats. Three other
National Parties BSP, Communist Party of India-Marxist and the Communist Party
of India have put up 87, 14, and 17 candidates respectively. The five national
parties have in all put up 298 candidates.
The four
state parties have put up a total of 251 candidates - INLD (88), HJC-BL (65),
HLP (75) and HJCP-V (23). INLD's ally Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), which supports
BJP in Punjab but is opposing the candidates of saffron party in Haryana, has
put up two candidates.Other registered parties have put up 197 candidates and
remaining 603 are Independents.The polling will take place from 7 am to 6 pm on
Wednesday and counting of votes will take place on October 19. The Congress had
failed to get the required majority of 45 in the 90-member state assembly in
the 2009 assembly polls, but Hooda managed to form the government after five
Haryana Janhit Congress (BL) MLAs deserted their party and merged with the
Congress, which also got the support of seven Independents and a lone BSP
member.
Five HJC
(BL) MLAs -- Satpal Sangwan, Vinod Bhayana, Rao Narender Singh, Zile Ram
Chochra and Dharam Singh Chhokar -- had 'merged' the party with the Congress
leaving their party Chief Kuldeep Bishnoi, who was also elected, alone in the
HJC.
Justice K
Kannan of the Punjab and Haryana high court in his verdict on October 9, 2014
while allowing the writ petition filed by Kuldeep Bishnoi, president of HJC
challenging the merger, termed the order of speaker as bad in law.
The judge
held that there was no proof of merger of the original political party and the
decision of the speaker was against constitutional mandate.
5)
Cyclone-hit Vizag limps back to normalcy:
The port
city of Visakhapatnam was limping back to normalcy on Wednesday with
restoration of essential supplies and public transportation services, three
days after it was battered by cyclone Hudhud.
The
residents of Visakhapatnam have been reeling under a crisis as electricity and
daily need items like milk were not available and communication network had
virtually collapsed due to the devastation caused by the cyclone which struck
on Sunday.
The state
government has begun efforts to resume electricity supply. Chief Minister N Chandrababu
Naidu, who has been camping in the city to oversee relief operations, directed
officials to supply a package of food items like rice, daal, edible oil and
some vegetables to the victims.Naidu said the exact financial loss caused by
Hudhud are yet to be calculated even as initial estimates indicate that it can
go up to Rs 70,000 crore. The situation in north coastal districts is still
grim and all efforts are being made to bring back normalcy as far as power
supply is concerned, Naidu told reporters.
"It
is very difficult to assess the damage and loss caused by the cyclone. We
cannot come to a figure now. Our immediate priority is to conduct rescue and
relief operations in the cyclone-hit areas," Naidu said.
In the
wake of complaints that some traders are trying to exploit the situation by
selling various items at exorbitant prices, Naidu has said vegetables would be
provided at a low price.With resumption of transportation to Visakhapatnam from
other places in the state following removal of uprooted trees and other debris,
vegetables and milk are now arriving in the city, officials said.The Andhra
Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation, a major mode of public transportation
in AP, said in a release in Hyderabad on Tuesday that bus services in the
cyclone-hit districts of Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts
have been resumed.The South Central Railway opened up rail route to
Visakhapatnam on Tuesday after repairing the track breaches on the
Vijayawada-Visakhapatnam section.
The cyclone,
accompanied by gusty winds with a speed of about 180 kmph and heavy rains, left
a trail of destruction behind in Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam
districts in coastal Andhra Pradesh.Uprooted trees and electric poles have
become a common sight in the cyclone-hit districts with most parts of
Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam languishing in darkness following
the onslaught of the cyclonic storm.Naidu ensured the people that power is
expected to be partially restored in some places by the evening or
tomorrow.According to the state disaster management department, 25 people have
been killed in various rain-related incidents till late last night.Over 1.35
lakh people were provided shelter in relief camps and 6,85,000 people have been
provided food.Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the port city on Tuesday and
announced an interim assistance of Rs 1,000 crore to take up immediate relief
works. He also announced Rs two lakh to the next of kin of those killed in the
cyclone and Rs 50,000 to the injured.
6) Indian
American scientist Subra Suresh honoured:
A top
Indian American scientist who heads the prestigious Carnegie Mellon University,
will be inducted into the Institute of Medicine in recognition of his research
into cell mechanics related to malaria, blood diseases and certain types of
cancer.
Subra
Suresh, would be one of the only 16 living Americans to be elected to all 3
national academies -- IOM, National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of
Engineering.Suresh is the first Carnegie Mellon faculty member to hold
membership in all three academies.
Before
becoming president of CMU last year, he served as director of the National
Science Foundation (NSF), a USD 7-billion independent government science agency
charged with advancing all fields of fundamental science, engineering research
and education.
He has
also been elected a fellow or honorary member of all the major materials
research societies in the United States and India.Suresh received his Bachelor
of Technology degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, a
master's degree from Iowa State University and Doctor of Science degree from
MIT.
Following
postdoctoral research at the University of California, Berkeley, and the
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, he joined the faculty of engineering at
Brown University in December 1983.
He joined
MIT in 1993 as the R P Simmons Professor of Materials Science and Engineering
and served as head of MIT's Department of Materials Science and Engineering
during 2000-2006.
In 2011,
Suresh was awarded the Padma Shri.
7)
Pakistan violates ceasefire twice along LoC, IB:
Pakistani
troops violated the ceasefire twice by firing on forward posts along the LoC
and International Border in Poonch and Jammu districts, drawing retaliation
from the army. There have been four ceasefire violations along the IB and LoC
in Jammu and Poonch districts during the past over 24 hours."Pakistani
troops violated the ceasefire and resorted to small arms and automatic weapons
firing on Indian posts along the LoC in Hamirpur sector of Poonch district
around 8:55 pm last night, a senior army officer said today.
Troops
gave a befitting reply to the Pakistani firing, resulting in exchanges which
continued till 9:20 pm. There was no loss of life or injury to anyone in the
firing.Pakistani rangers resorted to firing on BoPs in Makwal and Allah Mahi Da
Kothay areas in Jammu district on Friday evening, a BSF officer said, adding,
"it was a minor firing".
Earlier,
Pakistani troops had violated the ceasefire in Hamirpur sector twice on
Thursday night and Friday morning, drawing retaliation from Indian troops.
Pakistan had earlier violated the ceasefire by resorting to firing and mortar
shelling along the LoC in Saujian-Kirni-Shahpur belts of Poonch on October 15
in which seven-year-old Riyaz of Kuiyian Gotirian village was injured.
Meanwhile,
a villager injured in Pakistani mortar shelling succumbed to injuries in
Government Medical College Hospital in Jammu on Friday, taking the toll to nine
in recent incidents of ceasefire violations.The IB and LoC in Jammu region have
witnessed heavy firing and mortar shelling by Pakistani troops since October 1,
leaving nine persons dead and over 95 injured, including 13 security men.
Around 30,000 people have fled their border homes leaving 113 hamlets deserted
along the IB.
Sports News
This Week:
1) Kohli
century sets up series win:
India 330
for 6 (Kohli 127, Raina 71, Rahane 68) beat West Indies 271 (Samuels 112,
Bhuvneshwar 2-25, Akshar 2-26) by 59 runs
Scorecard
and ball-by-ball detailsVirat Kohli cracked his 20th ODI hundred, Suresh Raina
and Ajinkya Rahane made fifties as India comfortably downed a seemingly
eager-to-leave West Indies in Dharamsala. The news that West Indies' tour had
been cut short due to the players' payment dispute with their board broke
during India's innings, and the visitors backed that up with shoddy fielding
and bowling performances. Marlon Samuels overcame a struggle of a start to make
his seventh ODI century, but barring Andre Russell's belated and brief blitz,
the rest of the line-up sank after India had racked up 330. India took the
five-match series 2-1, with the third ODI washed out by a cyclone and the fifth
cancelled by West Indies' pullout.There was more bounce in the Dharamsala track
than on most Indian ODI pitches, but it was useful to the bowling side only
when backed by serious pace. West Indies weren't really willing to bend their
backs barring the odd occasion. They were eager to bowl short, though, and
continued to do so throughout the innings. And India kept hooking and pulling
harmless stomach-high bouncers to the short boundaries.
As early
as the first ball of the second over, Shikhar Dhawan showed there was nothing
to worry about the bouncers short on intent as he pulled Jason Holder for four.
West Indies refused to learn and Dhawan helped himself to easy boundaries.
Ajinkya
Rahane was timing the ball superbly at the other end, caressing full deliveries
both sides of the wicket. West Indies tried bowling wide with a packed off-side
field, but he disturbed those plans by stepping out and going leg side.
The stand
had grown to 70 in the 12th over when Russell combined pace with bounce and
Dhawan, not for the first time, top-edged an awkward hook to the deep. West
Indies had an opportunity to claw back further in Russell's next over, but
Jerome Taylor spilled a simple chance at fine leg off another top-edged hook,
reprieving Rahane on 38.Kohli, at No. 4, had made his first fifty across Tests
and ODIs since February in the previous game. Back at his usual No. 3 position
today, he had his ODI-autopilot mode on from ball one, to which he leaned
forward solidly and pushed a single to cover. There was some turn and bounce
for the spinners, and Kohli wasn't going to go after anything unless it was too
wide or short. He and Rahane collected 72 at just under five an over without
taking any risk, and it took an incorrect leg-before decision against Rahane,
on 68, to break the partnership.India were 142 for 2 when Rahane went in the
27th over. Kohli and Raina nearly doubled that with a 138-run stand that took
108 balls.
West
Indies had gone overboard with the short ball; they weren't going to hold back
against Raina. But even he wasn't troubled with their half-hearted, predictable
offerings as he swiped and pulled five sixes on way to 71 off 58.
Raina and
Kohli collected 52 off the batting Powerplay, and India took 94 off the last
ten overs as West Indies, who had been threatening to do so all the time,
completely lost it in the field. The dropped chances, overthrows and misfields
piled up.
Kohli
reached his hundred on an overthrow off his 101st delivery, and he and MS Dhoni
were both put down in the same over. Kohli ended with 127 off 114.Samuels
responded with 112 off 106 and was last man out as the rest crumbled around
him, despite the considerable dew soaking the outfield in the cool mountain
weather. Samuels was peppered with bouncers, especially by Mohammed Shami, when
he came in but he survived and hit back with the odd boundary before taking 47
off the 29 deliveries he faced from Ravindra Jadeja.
Jadeja
went for 2 for 80 from nine overs, while the second left-arm spinner in the XI,
Akshar Patel, returned 2 for 26 from ten. Akshar conceded just one boundary
from his quota, and broke the 56-run third-wicket stand between Samuels and
Darren Bravo, who fell for a steady 40.Bhuvneshwar Kumar had tied up the top
order with prodigious swing under lights. Kieron Pollard, promoted to No. 3,
could not put bat to ball, unable to figure out which way it was swinging. When
Bhuvneshwar ended Pollard's crawl on 6 off 31, West Indies were 27 for 2 in 11
overs. West Indies kept losing wickets, and though Russell powered 46 off 23 at
No. 8, they had already slipped too far behind on the asking-rate.
2) Indian
Super League: A paradigm shift in Indian football:
Jeje,
Sabeeth, Manandeep, Subrata Pal, Gouramangi, how many of you'll know who are
they? If you follow Indian football, these are very familiar/known names.But
unfortunately, majority of the population don't know anyone from the list of
people I mentioned above. Who they know are people like John Abraham, Ranbeer
Kapoor, Sachin Tendulkar, Abhishek Bachchan, Neeta Ambani, etc.
IMG-Reliance
In 2010,
IMG-R approached the All India Football Federation and undertook the marketing
rights for the I-League. They tried to lure in corporate firms and diversify
the entertainment aspect around the league. IMG also had a first hand
experience of the very much successful Major League Soccer (MLS) in the USA. A
similar approach to the local football was the plan on paper. It was sad that
things did not go as planned and the IMG-R team faced a lot of criticism from
the I-League clubs.
In 2013,
IMG-R decided to let go of the I-League. It approached the AIFF and floated the
concept of the ISL. AIFF faced strong opposition from the I-League clubs in
releasing their players. Many also feared the loss in Brand Equity to their own
team. AIFF did not want any kind of rebel whatsoever like we saw in Cricket:
IPL and ICL a few years back.
The fans
India has
a huge appetite for football following. Unfortunately, this was filled by
European Leagues. Football fans are majorly influenced by big names, big clubs,
big tournaments, etc. Philosophy, style of play, tempo, usually are not
considered as much.
ISL is a
perfect platform where we can attract the masses through big footballing names,
known ‘celebs’ and a geographical/emotional connection with the teams from all
the
The way
forward?
It is too
early to say how this will work in the long term. It is a proven concept in the
country with Cricket and Kabaddi, and also the MLS in the USA. Some of the
early criticism which I heard lately were:
1. IMG-R
should have rather invested in the I-League – Well, IMG-R tried but had limited
role to play in the I-League and most of the clubs were skeptical. ISL gave
IMG-R complete freedom to build the boat from scratch.
2. The
quality of football is very low! - Yes, it is! It has always been. Most of us
are used to the quality of football in Europe. India stands nowhere close. But
you cannot expect one League to come in and directly take the football quality
to the next level. This is a perfect reality check for all of us here, with
some glamour!
3. The
duration is just a few months, hence No development of Football! - Agreed. But
again this is the debut year, let's hope that the ISL adds two new teams every
year and hence increasing not only the number of players and cities, but also
the length of the competition.
Hopefully
6-7 years down the line we get to see a full fledged league with 18-20 teams,
playing each other over 10 months! Come one India, Let's Football!
3)
Atletico de Kolkata gave the football-crazy city fans a night to remember in
their 3-0 drubbing of Mumbai City FC:
as the
inaugural Hero Indian Super League football tournament kicked off in
spectacular fashion after a star-studded opening ceremony.
It was
Fikru Teferra who struck the first goal of the ISL to give the home franchise a
27th minute lead to bring the 70,000 capacity crowd at the Salt Lake Stadium to
their feet, while Borja Fernandez's stunning volley from the edge of the box
delighted one and all with some top quality stuff.
4)
Atletico de Kolkata Destroy NorthEast United FC 2-0:
Goals
from Fukri and Podany gave Atletico de Kolkata their second successive win in
the Indian Super League.
5)
NorthEast United Beat Kerala Blasters 1-0:
Playing
in front of thunderous crowds at Guwahati, NorthEast United put on a spirited
show to beat Sachin Tendulkar-owned Kerala Blasters 1-0
6) Del
Piero Dazzles on Debut as Delhi, Pune Play Out Goal-less Draw:
Delhi
Dynamos were better but wasteful as they paid the price for their profligacy
even as Alessandro del Piero's presence failed to break the deadlock in their
barren draw against FC Pune City in the Indian Super League here on Tuesday.
Alessandro
del Piero did not start, much to the disappointment of the 30000-odd turnout at
the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, but the Italian and Juventus legend was
introduced in the 37th minute amid the loudest cheers from a fairly packed
Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.
7)
Chennaiyin FC Edge Past Hosts FC Goa in Indian Super League:
In a
pulsating Indian Super League (ISL) encounter, Chennaiyin FC edged past hosts
Goa FC 2-1 as forward Balwant Singh, who scored for the visitors, became the
first Indian goalscorer in the tournament at the Jawahar Lal Nehru stadium on
Wednesday. Chennaiyin, co-owned by Abhishek Bachchan and Indian cricket captain
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, went ahead with Balwant etching his name in the history
books with his 32nd minute strike.Substitute Arnal Llibert (90+3rd) gave the
Kolkatans enough reasons to celebrate by turning Fikru's cross from the right
to give a perfect ending to the match of the league touted to change the
landscape of Indian football.
Book Of
This Week:
The Red
Lily Crown: A Novel of Medici Florence by Elizabeth Loupas:
April,
1574, Florence, Italy. Grand Duke Cosimo de’ Medici lies dying. The city is
paralyzed with dread, for the next man to wear the red lily crown will be
Prince Francesco: despotic, dangerous, and obsessed with alchemy.
Chiara
Nerini, the troubled daughter of an anti-Medici bookseller, sets out to save
her starving family by selling her dead father’s rare alchemical equipment to
the prince. Instead she is trapped in his household—imprisoned and forcibly
initiated as a virgin acolyte in Francesco’s quest for power and immortality.
Undaunted, she seizes her chance to pursue undreamed-of power of her
own.Witness to sensuous intrigues and brutal murder plots, Chiara seeks a safe
path through the labyrinth of Medici tyranny and deception. Beside her walks
the prince’s mysterious English alchemist Ruanno, her friend and teacher,
driven by his own dark goals. Can Chiara trust him to keep her secrets…even to
love her…or will he prove to be her most treacherous enemy of all?
Elizabeth Loupas:
genre : Historical Fiction, Mystery &
Thrillers, Romance
influences
: Dorothy Dunnett, Elizabeth Goudge, Mary Stewart, Rumer Godden, Cecelia
Holland
I live
near the Elm Fork of the Trinity River, halfway between Dallas and Fort Worth,
Texas.
I hate
housework, cold weather, and wearing shoes. I love animals, gardens, and
popcorn. Not surprisingly I live in a state of happy barefoot chaos with my
delightful and faintly bemused husband (the Broadcasting Legend™), my herb
garden, my popcorn popper, and two beagles.
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