Cyclone Lashes @ Zimbabwe

About 100 people are missing in parts of eastern Zimbabwe hit by the peripheral effects of tropical cyclone Idai which has lashed Mozambique, a local lawmaker said Saturday.

More than thousands of people have been affected, power cut off and major bridges flooded in parts of the Manicaland province which borders Mozambique.

As per source "The information we have so far is that over 100 people are missing and some of them" may have died, Joshua Sacco, a member of parliament in Chimanimani district.


About 25 houses were swept away following a mudslide at Ngangu township in Chimanimani urban. There were people inside. They are part of the missing.

As Tropical cyclone Idai battered central Mozambique on Friday killing at least 19 people and cutting off more than half a million in Beira, one of the country's largest cities.

Officials in Mozambique said that heavy rains earlier in the week, before the cyclone struck, had already claimed another 66 lives, injured scores and displaced 17,000 people.

Heavy to heavy rains in neighbouring Malawi this week have affected almost a million people and claimed 56 lives, according to the latest government toll.

Mumbai bridge collapse

Mumbai Municipal Corporation has ordered an inquiry into Thursday's foot overbridge collapse after Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said he asked BMC chief Ajoy Mehta to fix "primary responsibility". "It is shocking that such an accident can take place even after a structural audit. Primary responsibility will be fixed by this evening. I have asked civic chief to find out names of those responsible," Fadnavis said while speaking to reporters after meeting the injured in St George's Hospital nearby.

Audit report of the Mumbai bridge collapse, accessed by CNN-News18, has revealed that the bridge was certified to be in a "good condition" and only needed minor repairs. Two nurses on their way to work among the six people killed and 32 injured as a major portion of a foot overbridge near the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) railway station in Mumbai collapsed on Thursday evening.

As Ranjana Tambe (40) and Apoorva Prabhu (35) were nurses at GT hospital and had been working since 2005, their colleagues said. Incidentally, several of the injured in the collapse were taken to GT hospital. Both the nurses, who were on their way for night shift, were from Dombivili. While Tambe was a nurse in ward 6, Prabhu was a nurse in the operation theatre and is survived by her husband and two children.

Bridge collapse, on the busy Dadabhai Naoroji Road, was the third in less than 18 months in the maximum city. On July 3, 2018, a pedestrian pathway of Gokhale Bridge over Andheri railway station in suburban Mumbai had collapsed, killing two and injuring five others. Nine months before, in 2017, 23 people were killed in a stampede when the Elphinstone Bridge had collapsed.

Collapse happened around 7.30 pm Thursday evening when a major portion of the bridge caved in, officials said. Some motorists who were passing beneath the bridge when it came down, were among those injured.

PM Narendra Modi said he was deeply anguished by the loss of lives due to the accident. “My thoughts are with the bereaved families. Wishing that the injured recover at the earliest. Maharashtra Government is providing all possible assistance to those affected,” he tweeted.

CM Devendra Fadnavis, announced a probe and said the guilty will be punished. He said that the bridge was audited last year and was found to be structurally sound. Also announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh for the kin of the dead and Rs 50,000 for the injured.

Terror Attack in New Zealand Mosque | Bangladesh cricket players escaped

NEW ZEALAND: Terror attacks on two Christchurch mosques left at least 49 dead Friday, with one gunman - identified as an Australian extremist, apparently livestreaming the assault that triggered the lockdown of the New Zealand city.

One of witnesses spoke of victims being shot at close range, with women and children also believed to be among those killed.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says "It is clear that this can now only be described as a terrorist attack," saying it marked "one of New Zealand's darkest days".

Also said "From what we know, it does appear to have been well planned,"adding that in addition to the dead another 20 people were seriously injured.

Gunman at one mosque was an Australian-born citizen, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in Sydney, describing him as "an extremist, right-wing, violent terrorist".

It was not clear how many attackers were involved, but Ardern said three men had been taken into custody.

2 IEDS (improvised explosive devices) were also found and neutralised by the military, police said.

Palestinian man who was in one of the mosques said he saw someone being shot in the head.

"I heard three quick shots, then after about 10 seconds it started again. It must have been an automatic, no one could pull a trigger that quick," one witness public told.

Somehow he escaped "Then people started running out. Some were covered in blood," he said, adding that he joined the fleeing crowd and managed to escape.

Video and documents circulating online, but not officially confirmed, suggested the shooter had streamed his attack on Facebook Live.

upon checking wih AFP has examined the footage, which has subsequently been taken down. Journalists experienced in verification techniques said it appeared to be genuine.

New Zealand police says "extremely distressing" and urged web users not to share it.

Manifesto had also been posted online on accounts linked to the same Facebook page, suggesting the attack was racially motivated.

Social media account had also posted a number of pictures of a semi-automatic weapon covered in the names of historical figures, many of whom were involved in the killing of Muslims.

Masjid al Noor in central Christchurch was filled with worshippers, when the attack happened.

Bangladesh cricket team, which had been in Christchurch for a test match against New Zealand that was later cancelled, all escaped without injury.

Spokesman said the attack happened as some of players got off a team bus and were about to enter the mosque.

"They are safe. But they are mentally shocked. We have asked the team to stay confined in the hotel," he told AFP.

This Mass shootings are rare in New Zealand, which tightened its gun laws to restrict access to semi-automatic rifles in 1992, two years after a mentally ill man shot dead 13 people in the South Island town of Aramoana.

Anyone over 16 can apply for a standard firearms licence after doing a safety course, which allows them to purchase and use a shotgun unsupervised.

Earlier in Christchurch, a relatively small city in the south of New Zealand, hit global headlines in 2011 when it was struck by a deadly earthquake.

VIT students bagged 1.5 lakhs prize money in Hackathon

3 Institutions took part in 36-hour competition

Vellore: Highly talented students of Vellore Institute of Technology cracked the maximum problem statements presented by Honeywell at ‘WEHACK 3.0’ as a part of the Honeywell Automation Challenge 2019 at the campus recently.

36-hour hackathon was conducted simultaneously at the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad and Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai, involving prize money of 1,50,000. Honeywell sponsored the event to help bring the university’s brightest and most creative problem solvers.

Hackathon’s themes included artificial intelligence, machine learning, image processing and data mining.

VIT teams cracked the maximum problems within the said time-frame. Senior Engineering Manager, K. Venkatswara Reddy of Honeywell handed over the prizes to the winning teams.

First prize was bagged by Chaitanya Kini, Yashvardhan Mathur and Sriharsha, while Nanda Kishor, Anish Kumar and Mayank Senapathi were the runners-up.

Solutions provided by the students were out-of-the-box and at par with many of the esteemed universities.

Officials said “Honeywell recognises that with technology evolving and changing every day, there is a continuing need to develop a strong talent pool for the industry,”

Ambur Mazharul Uloom School protest

Ambur: As students at a minority Muslim school at Ambur in Tamil Nadu staged a protest and boycotted classes demanding that they should be permitted to write their Standard X board exams in Urdu.

Students of Mazharul Uloom Higher Secondary School near Ambur in Vellore district of Tamil Nadu have been demanding that the state education department authorities allow them to write their Class X board exam in their mother tongue Urdu and not in Tamil.

The district education officer Marx rushed to the site of the protest and held negotiations with them. He urged them to call off their protest immediately. He assured them that their demand will be considered and the administration will initiate necessary steps to allow the students to take up their exam in Urdu.

TN state government had passed a legislation in 2006 (called Tamil Language Act of 2006) which said that all schools under the state board must teach Tamil as a subject (as a language) starting from the first standard in 2006; first and second standards in 2007; first, second and third standards in 2008, and so on. Accordingly, by the year 2016, all students up to the 10th standard were expected to be taught Tamil as a subject from the first to tenth standards.

As per provisions of the Tamil Language Act of 2006, even the minority schools must teach Tamil in addition to their mother tongue.

An interim order on a batch of petitions filed by linguistic minority institutions and individual students challenging the Tamil Language Act enacted in 2006, the Madras High Court granted exemption to the students having mother tongue other than Tamil from writing Tamil language paper during the board exams.

The High Court clarified that the exemption from writing part I Tamil language paper during class 10 board exams for academic year 2016-17 will only be applicable for schools and students who have already applied for it. The court also directed the School Education Department to decide as per law on fresh applications seeking exemption for students, whose mother tongue is not Tamil, from writing the Tamil language paper.

Mother forgets baby at ariport | flight returned

Saudi Arabian Airlines flight had to make a last minute turn-around because a passenger forgot her baby behind at the airport.

Flight to Kuala Lumpur returned to its gate at the King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, after the panicked woman alerted the cabin crew that she forgot to bring her child on board.

Video clip of the pilot requesting permission from the Air Traffic Control is going viral on the social media. He is heard murmuring: “May God be with us. Can we come back or what?”

Airport authority says “Ok, head back to the gate. This is totally a new one for us!”

World's Oldest living person | 116 Years old

116-year-old Japanese woman who still enjoys studying math and playing board games has been recognised as the world's oldest person, the Guinness World Records said on Saturday.

Old lady Kane Tanaka was born on 2 January 1903, the year when the Wright brothers launched the first powered flight, according to Guinness.

Ms Tanaka's birthday was celebrated at the nursing home where she lives in western Japan's Fukuoka by city mayor Soichiro Takashima and other well-wishers.

Most cute answer: When asked what moment she was the most happy in life, she replied: "Now."

Ms Tanaka married Hideo Tanaka in 1922, giving birth to four children and adopting a fifth.

She normally wakes each morning at 6 am and passes the afternoons by studying mathematics and practicing calligraphy. "One of Kane's favourite pastimes is a game of Othello and she's become an expert at classic board game, often beating rest-home staff," Guinness said.

Country Japan has one of the world's highest life expectancies and has been home to several people recognised as among the oldest humans to have ever lived.

Also they include Jiroemon Kimura, the longest-living man on record, who died soon after his 116th birthday in June 2013.

Earlier verified person ever -- Jeanne Louise Calment of France -- died in 1997 at the age of 122, according to Guinness.

2019 Election date announced

National election will be held in seven rounds from 11 April and the results will be announced on May 23, the Election Commission said on Sunday. Voting will be held across India on April 11, April 19, April 23, April 29, May 6, May 12 and May 19.

Ethiopian Plane crash 157 killed

Ethiopian Airlines flight crashed shortly after takeoff from the capital Sunday morning killing all 157 thought to be on board. No immediate details on what caused the crash of the Boeing 737-8 MAX plane, which was new and had been delivered to the airline in November.

State-owned Ethiopian Airlines, widely considered the best-managed airline in Africa, calls itself Africa’s largest carrier and has ambitions of becoming the gateway to the continent.

As per statement said 149 passengers and eight crew members were thought to be on the plane that crashed six minutes after departing Addis Ababa on its way to Kenya’s capital. Crash occurred around Bishoftu, or Debre Zeit, some 50 kilometers (31 miles) south of Addis Ababa, at 8:44 a.m.

Search and rescue operations are in progress and we have no confirmed information about survivors or any possible casualties, Separate statement by the Ethiopian prime minister’s office offered its “deepest condolences” to families.

EBC reported all passengers were dead and that the passengers included 33 nationalities. An Ethiopian Airlines spokesman said 32 Kenyans and 17 Ethiopians were among the victims.

Earlier in October, another Boeing 737-8 MAX plunged into the Java Sea just minutes after taking off from Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital, killing all 189 people on board. Cockpit data recorder showed that the jet’s airspeed indicator had malfunctioned on its last four flights, though Lion Air initially claimed that problems with the aircraft had been fixed.

Last deadly crash of an Ethiopian Airlines passenger plane was in 2010, when the plane crashed minutes after takeoff from Beirut killing all 90 people on board.

Today's crash comes as the country’s reformist prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, has vowed to open up the airline and other sectors to foreign investment in a major transformation of the state-centered economy.

Free Backpack if you walk | GOQII

Make your every steps count with India Steps Challenge!



Mission:

Research by Stanford University in 2017 revealed that the average step count of Indians is only 4297 steps a day and ranks 39th among the 46 countries surveyed. As, India is just below the worldwide average of 4961 steps a day. Hence, GOQii is on a mission to increase the nation’s step count and Make India Healthy Again!



How it works:

You need to do is visit the Google Play Store/iOS App Store, download the app GOQII smart preventive healthcare on your mobile phone and connect your GOQii Tracker or mobile phone sensor to the app. Use Invite code goqii1577310. On doing so, you can participate in India Steps Challenge 2019 by achieving your daily step target, inviting more friends to join and win exciting prizes!


How to participate: 

All Indian residents who holds Smartphone/tracker are eligible.

Prize:

You can easily reach target of 100 points in 2 days as you will receive 6000 (60 points) steps each day. Once 100 points reached you can claim and give your address and pay shipping charge of 100 rupee. Once you completed your payment product will reach within 5 business days to you via Blue Dart courier service. I received in 3 days.

Use Invite code:
goqii1577310

Modi spotted in London | Bank fraud in India

Nirav Modi, the billionaire diamond tycoon who is a suspect for the biggest banking fraud in India.

Most wanted man diamantaire Nirav Modi, who is wanted in the multi-crore Punjab National Bank fraud in India, is living in a luxurious apartment situated in London’s West End and running a diamond business.

Video released by a UK-based newspaper on Saturday shows Modi, apparently sporting a jacket made from “Ostrich hide” which costs “at least £10,000” (over Rs 9 lakh), answering “no comment” to every question posed by the reporter.

Nirav Modi is living in a “three-bedroom flat occupying half of a floor of the landmark Centre Point tower block, with views across London”, likely to be rented at around £17,000 (Rs 15 lakh), the report stated.

Viewing highly placed sources in UK government, Modi was provided with a ‘National Insurance Number’ by the Department for Work and Pension which allows him to operate online bank accounts in the country while still being on a wanted list in India. When asked about this, Modi replies: “No comment”.

Both Modi and his maternal uncle Mehul Choksi are being investigated by Indian investigating agencies after the PNB reported that it had been cheated of Rs 13,600 crore through fraudulent issue of letters LoUs and foreign letters of credit (FLCs).

Both left India in January 2018, a few weeks before the scam was unearthed. Modi is in the UK, Choksi has become a citizen of Antigua and Barbuda and is learnt to be residing there.

Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/india/nirav-modi-video-london-pnb-scam-5617790/

Toy Train launched in Shimla

All railways station on the Shimla-Kalka heritage route will get free Wi-Fi, officials said on Wednesday. Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur launched the free Wi-Fi facility along with the 'hop-on hop-off' service which will let passengers get down at any station and board another incoming train without purchasing new tickets.

Eye catching for tourism on wayside stations like Barog, Solan, Shogi and so on, Thakur said. CM also inaugurated various other modern facilities for Kalka-Shimla heritage railway line including a modern toilet complex.

CM Thakur also laid the foundation stones of two lifts at Shimla railway station and the project for renovation of Shimla extension station. On the occasion, Thakur thanked Union Railways Minister Piyush Goyal for taking interest in modernising Shimla railway station besides upgrading Kalka-Shimla railway line.

Leopard movement caught on camera in Ambur | 3 teams formed to trap

Camera was installed a day after on a farm where an elusive leopard made the lastest attack at a calf at Arangalthurugam village, it has recorded the movement of a full grown leopard in the area.

Leopard on the prowl at the villages located close to the forest area surrounding Vaniyambadi Ambur and Tirupattur has killed more than a dozen livestock since December. Sunday night the leopard had entered a shed belonging to a farmer Pazhani and had mauled a calf at Arangalthurugam In order to track its movements a camera trap was installed on Monday and the carcass of the calf was left near the camera to invite the leopard to the spot. Next day morning forest officials on checking the camera trap found the footage of a leopard eating the carcass.

Forest officials have expressed hope to catch the leopard soon. “We have formed three special teams to capture the animal and have cautioned the people in surrounding villages not to venture out of their houses after evening. We have planned to set up more cages and camera traps and the big cat would be caught at the earliest,” Seva Singh, Chief conservator of forest expressed confidence.

20 Rupee Coin will be in hand soon

Finance Ministry on Wednesday announced a new coin for Rs. 20 which will be shaped like a 27 mm "dodecagon" - a 12-sided polygon. Finance Ministry issued a notification announcing the new 20-rupee coin.

Same like circular 10-rupee coin, which is also 27 mm in diameter and has 100 serrations on its edge, the 20-rupee coin will not have any marks on its edge.

Like the 10-rupee coin, it will be two-toned. While the outer ring will be 65 per cent copper, 15 per cent zinc and 20 per nickel, the inner disc will be 75 per cent copper, 20 per cent zinc and five percent nickel.

Government is also releasing the new series of prototypes of coins of Re 1, Rs 2, Rs 5 and Rs 10.

Fact, it was nearly 10 years ago, in March 2009, that the Reserve Bank of India had issued the first 10-rupee coin.


Public have claimed that some traders have refused some variants of the 10-rupee coin, assuming them to be fake.

RBI issued a clarification saying that all 14 kinds of coins continue to be legal tender including 10rupee coin.

Visually impaired friendly circulation coin. Apart from Currency notes, coins have a longer life and hence, coins that are released over a long period continue to stay in circulation simultaneously, the RBI said.

Google launched new app "Bolo"

Smartphone penetration expands in rural India, Google is hoping to piggyback on it to help the children with their reading skills. Company on Wednesday unveiled its new Bolo Android app that is a speech-based reading-tutor app aimed at rural kids, who would otherwise may not have access to a good education support system. Being released in India first, the Bolo app is now available for free via Google Play and can work offline. There is no word on when the app will be released in other markets.

As the government-back school system in most Indian states leaves a lot to be desired and it is often the only available avenue for getting an education in rural areas as well as for children from financially struggling families. Google is hoping to change that by using smartphones, which are increasingly becoming a common sight, even in rural areas.

Google says “We believe technology has the power to help transform teaching and learning, and have been actively directing our products, programs and philanthropy to ensure that all students are able to benefit from it,”

Bolo app helps the children improve their Hindi and English reading skills by encouraging them to read aloud. Comes with a large number of engaging stories, which the company hopes, will help the children in improving their comprehension skills. App has been designed to make sure that children don't need any help in using it and can read all by themselves. Google notes that all the reading material on the app is free and it is working with other companies to bring more content to Bolo. App relies on Google's speech recognition and text-to-speech technology.

Google has added in-app rewards and badges to Bolo as well as word games.

Google says the app includes an animated digital assistant called Diya. This assistant can read the text out loud for the children and even explain the meaning of the English text. Diya can speak English as well as Hindi, and will encourage the kids by giving them compliments when they finish a task.

App can be shared among many kids and provides a personalised experience to all. So, if a family has two siblings, they can both use the app and track their individual progress.

As per Google, the Bolo app is still in beta and the company will be working with its partners like Kaivalya, Room to Read, Saajha, and Pratham to further refine it and take the app to more children. Company has already carried out a controlled pilot for three months in 200 villages of Uttar Pradesh's Unnao district and it says that the initial results were encouraging.

This Bolo app can be downloaded from Google Play and works with all Android phones running KitKat or above. It comes with 16 preloaded stories and more can be downloaded. Overall size of the app is less than 50MB, which includes the speech modules and the entire experience.

Chennai Central Railway station to be Renamed, Says Modi

Chennai Central Railway Station will be renamed after former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MG Ramachandran, announced Prime Minister Narendra Modi at an NDA political rally in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Tamil Nadu to officially launch the National Democratic Alliance’s poll campaign for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

While speaking at a rally at Kilambakkam, in Kanchipuram district, PM Modi announced that the Chennai Central Railway Station would be renamed after former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MG Ramachandran. However whether this change of name can be done with General Elections about to be announced any day now. The announcement was made in the presence of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami, Deputy CM O Panneerselvam, BJP state chief Tamilisai Soundararajan and Union Minister of State Pon Radhakrishnan.

PM also praised MGR and said that he had visited MGR's birth place in Sri Lanka. The announcement comes at a time when the elections are just about to be announced and Modi's speech made it clear that the NDA has decided to co-opt MGR and Jayalalithaa's legacies into their election campaign.

Fourth visit of the PM to Tamil Nadu in less than 40 days. On this visit, the Prime Minister launched several schemes, and unveiled projects in roadways, railways, and energy sector worth Rs 5010 crore. Following the government event, Prime Minister Narendra Modi officially launched the National Democratic Alliance’s poll campaign for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in the same stage.

Ruling party AIADMK in Tamil Nadu and the BJP formalised their “mega alliance” for the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections on February 19. The BJP will be contesting from five seats in the state. Union Minister Piyush Goyal, who announced the alliance, said, “All parties in alliance in Tamil Nadu will work together to strengthen the National Democratic Alliance and our confidence is all 40 seats in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry will be won by NDA in the Centre under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”

Just 10 rupee extra in newly lauched AC bus | Chennai-Vellore | Chennai-Tiruvannamalai

Public travelling to Vellore and Tiruvannamalai from Chennai can now travel by two air-conditioned buses by paying just Rs 10 more than regular non-AC ultra-deluxe buses. 500 buses, including two AC buses, were flagged off by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami at the Secretariat on Tuesday. With the addition of 500 buses, the eight transport corporations in the State have received about 2316 buses from July 2018 at a cost of Rs 603.23 crore.

Inauguration: commuters were allowed to travel on Chennai - Vellore and Chennai - Tiruvannamalai routes. Buses have got 3X2 seater layout.  Official sources said the ticket fare of regular air conditioned buses is 140 paise per km. “However, in these two AC buses passengers will be charged at 100 paise per km which was collected for ultra-deluxe buses. In addition, Rs 10 will be collected,” said a senior official from TNSTC. The two buses will have two services in both directions a day (four single trips),” the official added.

Apart from 500 new buses, eight buses have been allocated to Metropolitan Transport Corporation. Villupuram and Salem divisions of TNSTC received 198 buses and 134 buses. 160 buses have been allocated to Kumbakonam division, a release said. SETC, Coimbatore, Madurai and Tirunelveli units of TNSTC have not been allotted any new buses.

Grenade explosion @ Bus Stand In Jammu, 18 Injured

18 people have been injured in a powerful grenade explosion at the main bus stand in Jammu this afternoon. The bus stand is in the heart of Jammu city. Bus drivers and conductors are series injured.

Grenade was placed under a bus, the police said. It is unclear if there were people inside the bus. "Police is working on all the leads. We are collecting evidence and we will hunt them down," a police officer told reporters.

Seen in Visuals showed security personnel guarding the area as a large number of locals gathered around the site of the blast. As Police have cordoned off the area. Sniffer dogs were brought in to scan the site. Injured have been taken to hospital.

Explosion in Jammu - which is not far from the International Border - comes amid an increase in tension along the border with Pakistan.

Source: https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/explosion-inside-bus-at-bus-stand-in-jammu-injuries-reported-2004007

Firing at LOC

Seen heavy shelling and firing by Pakistani troops are being reported along the Line of Control (LOC) in the border town of Rajouri in Jammu and Kashmir. As this is the third case of the violation of ceasefire in the day, defence officials said.

Officials said that at around 10:30 am, Pakistani troops resorted to heavy shelling with artillery or heavy arms and firing of small arms along the Line of Control  in Nowshera and Sunderbani sectors in Rajouri, around 159 km from Jammu city.

Schools and other educational institutions within 5 km distance from the LoC in Rajouri and Pooch districts are closed. As The Indian Army is firing in retaliation, the army said.

Second round of exchange of fire between the two countries in 12 hours. Indian and Pakistani armies exchanged heavy fire across the Line of Control (LoC) in  Rajouri district till 4:30 this morning, the the Defence Ministry said.

Many heavy fire exchanges took place Rajouri's Nowshera and Krishna Ghati sector of Poonch on Tuesday too. A soldier was injured in the Rajouri firing.

Source:https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/heavy-shelling-firing-by-pakistan-along-line-of-control-in-jammu-and-kashmirs-rajouri-army-retaliate-2003427

Benefits of Amla

• Is a powerful antioxidant

• Treat diabetes

• Treat heart disease

• Treat eye problems

• Reduce stress

• Relieve constipation

• Promote strong bones, teeth and nails

• Treat gastritis

• Improve eyesight

• Maintain liver health

• Increase red blood cell count

Ambur in alert | Leopard attack

Ambur: People in areas close to Ambur in Vellore district are in a state of fear following an attack by a leoprad in which a calf died. Place Arangal Durugam is the locality next to Ambur, Vellore district, where a farmer called Palani and his wife Geetha live.

Couple does farming on a piece of two acre land and they have cattle too. Last night, a leopard had attacked the calf in the backyard and killed it. This morning, on seeing the dead calf, Palani informed the forest department officials.

Opon receiving the information, team comprising of the forest department officials and veterinary doctors reached the spot and did a post-mortem of the dead calf. Forest department officials have already been keeping a close watch in Ponna Palli and Abigiripattarai areas and are armed with two cages to capture two leopards roaming in those areas.

This attack on the calf in the Arangal Durugam area, has created a panic among the people in the locality. People living in these parts say the movement of leopards has increased in the area in the past few days.

While Entering the villages from the forests, the leopards hide behind the bushes or agricultural gardens and hunt sheep and cattle. Recently, forest department officials tried capturing a leopard hiding in the sugarcane fields in the Chinnanguppam village in Nagaleri division next to Vaniyambadi.

Earlier Leopard chased some 300-odd people gathered there. One person was bitten by the big cat. Following this, the forest department officials have camped-in the locality and are rigorously engaged in capturing the leopard.

Gurgaon Topped World's Most Polluted City, Says Study

Gurgaon in the National Capital Region or NCR is the world's most polluted city according to data released by IQAir AirVisual and Greenpeace, a non-profit organization. India, as per new report published today, dominates the ranking, with 15 out of the 20 cities, with worst pollution.

As Out of the 10 cities with highest pollution, seven are in India, while one is in China and two are in Pakistan. Among the Indian cities are Gurgaon, Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Bhiwadi, Noida, Patna and Lucknow. The other three are Hotan in China and Lahore and Faislabad in Pakistan.

Next is Delhi at number 11 on the pollution chart.

The Data for report has been sourced from public and government websites collected in real-time and in cases where real-time was missing, "queries were performed to collect historical data when it becomes available."

Focus of the study, as per the report, is the aggregate of Particulate Matter (PM) 2.5, which has been recorded in real-time in 2018. Research say exposure to PM2.5 pollution increases the risk of lung cancer, stroke, heart attack and respiratory diseases, including asthma symptoms among all age groups.

As per new report, based on a study of 3000 cities, said that 64 per cent exceeded the World Health Organisation's annual exposure guideline for PM2.5 and just in South Asia, 99 per cent of the cities exceeded the WHO's safe standard exposure of 10 micrograms/cubic metre annually.

As China made an remarkable improvement since 2013, when its capital Beijing topped the pollution charts but according to the new study, the country's pollution levels have gone down by 40 per cent.

Encounter in Jammu & Kashmir's Pulwama, 2 Terrorists killed

Encounter broke out in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama between security forces and terrorists this morning. Two terrorist were killed in ongoing operation. As police had information about the presence of two terrorists hiding in a house in Pulwama's Tral.

Target house has been razed to ground. Also mobile internet services have been suspended in the town

Earlier it was in Pulwama that over 40 CRPF soldiers were killed in a terror attack on February 14. Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed claimed responsibility for the attack. Following, Indian fighter jets destroyed Jaish's biggest training camp in Pakistan's Balakot. Also on February 20, four soldiers, including an officer, and a policeman were killed in an encounter with terrorists in Pulwama. Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist, believed to be a key conspirator in the Pulwama terror attack, was shot dead in the 12-hour encounter.

Source: https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/pulwama-encounter-terrorist-killed-in-encounter-in-jammu-and-kashmirs-pulwama-2002675

Exports duty to be waived off by US

* Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) programme allows duty-free entry of 1,784 products from India into the US

* Exporters of textiles, engineering, gems and jewellery and chemical products benefit the most from this.

US has decided to withdraw duty benefits on $5.6 billion worth of exports from India by May this year, blaming the trade barriers created by the Indian government, after negotiations for a trade package fell through.

GSP programme allows duty-free entry of 1,784 products from India into the US, benefitting exporters of textiles, engineering, gems and jewellery and chemical products.

As "India has implemented a wide array of trade barriers that create serious negative effects on United States commerce. Despite intensive engagement, India has failed to take the necessary steps to meet the GSP criterion," the office of the United States Trade Representative said in a statement.

US secretary Wilbur Ross recently raised concerns regarding new trade barriers created by India, hinting at the stringent e-commerce rules that affected US companies such as Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart.

India's Commerce secretary Anup Wadhawan said disproportionate demands from the US led to the collapse of talks even though India was ready for greater market access in agricultural products to the US.

Last year in April, USTR announced that it was reviewing the GSP eligibility of India, after the US dairy industry and the US medical devices industry requested a review of India’s GSP benefits, given India’s alleged trade barriers affecting US exports in these sectors. Total US imports under GSP in 2017 was $21.2 billion, of which India was the biggest beneficiary with $5.6 billion, followed by Thailand ($4.2 billion) and Brazil ($2.5 billion).

Chennai Metro phase 2 map released about 118.9km project

The Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) on Saturday officially released maps of its ambitious 118.9km phase-2 project that will connect far-flung suburban areas with core localities of the city through three corridors.

As CMRL has released two maps- one is 52km corridor - (Madhavaram to CMBT and from Madhavaram to Sholinganallur linking the eastern part of the city including the IT hub at OMR), other of the entire phase with three corridors. Construction work for the 52km corridor will begin before the end of this year. It comprises 128 stations.

Three corridors of the phase include Madhavaram to Sipcot, Lighthouse to Poonamallee and Madhavaram to Sholinganallur. The estimated cost of the project is Rs 69,000 crore.

While many changes were made to the alignment and to the names of the stations, one of the corridors initially planned to link localities from Lighthouse to CMBT was later extended up to Poonamallee to link high passenger traffic areas like Porur and Iyyapanthangal.

Currently, the soil test is underway for the 52km corridor and a 10km corridor - from Lighthouse to Vadapalani. As Compared to the 45km phase-1, phase-2 will have smaller stations to cut down cost and land required for construction.

Abhinandan Returned home safely

Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot Abhinandan Varthaman captured by Pakistan after his plane crashed on the other side of LOC while on a mission, Pakistani officials handed him safely to IAF officials today at the Wagah-Attari joint check. Inspite of time release exceeded by Pakistan.


Medical Test at Wagah: Commander has undergone medical test in Wagah border took time to release.

Procedure Wing Commander have to undergo: Commander Abhinandan will be directly taken to Indian Air Force Intelligence Unit as soon as he arrives.  He will be made to take several medical tests to gauge his fitness levels.  Scans will also be conducted to check if he has been bugged by the Pakistani army. Pilot will need to undergo psychological tests too. Since he has been captured by the enemy and lived through traumatic situations, defence establishment will explore possibilities of him being tortured to illicit national security secrets from him.

Border to Delhi: Commander Abhinandan will be taken to Amritsar after his return to India through the Wagah-Attari border. Later, he will be flown to Delhi in a special plane. His family is waiting for his return in Delhi.

Ceremony cancelled: Wagah border will be out of bounds for the public today to ease pilot's hand over to Indian authorities to avoid tensions.

Request Denied: India's request to Islamabad that it wants IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman to be sent back via aerial route and not through the Wagah land border, denied by Pakistan. Pakistan communicated to India that he will be only returned through the Attari-Wagah border.

As Pakistani PM Imran Khan’s announcement on Thursday to release the IAF pilot came as a surprise amid escalating tensions between the 2 nuclear-armed countries after an intense aerial confrontation. PM Khan in his parliament speech called the IAF pilot’s release “a gesture of peace.”

China on Friday welcomed Pakistan's decision to release the Indian Air Force pilot and encouraged the two countries to engage in more counter-terrorism cooperation and dialogue for the regional peace and stability, news agency PTI reported.

Source: https://www.news18.com/news/india/abhinandan-return-live-last-minute-paperwork-at-wagah-attari-border-delays-wing-commanders-return-2052197.html

US to reward $1 million to track down Osama bin Laden’s son

United States Thursday announced a $1 million reward for tracking down Hamza bin Laden, son of slain al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, according to a report in the New York Times.

“Hamza bin Laden is the son of deceased former AQ leader Osama bin Laden and is emerging as a leader in the AQ franchise,” AFP quoted a statement by State Department, referring to Al Qaeda.