tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47615412437524720662024-03-05T00:55:44.919-08:00Positive GlobeVyga News Deskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029540792067918258noreply@blogger.comBlogger1625125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4761541243752472066.post-52788512627888302632018-04-22T05:49:00.001-07:002018-04-22T05:49:11.054-07:00PM Modi to visit China on Apr 27-28 for summit talks with Prez Xi<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Beijing: Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and will hold a summit meeting in China's Wuhan city from April 27 to 28 to improve bilateral relations, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi announced here today.<br />
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Prime Minister Modi will be visiting the central Chinese city at the invitation of President Xi, Wang said at a joint media event with visiting External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj after their talks.<br />
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Swaraj is in China for talks with Wang and to take part in the two-day meeting of Foreign Ministers of the eight-nation Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) from tomorrow.<br />
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Informed sources told PTI that it will be an informal summit meeting between Xi and Modi during which both leaders will try to work out a new paradigm for the bilateral ties bogged down with a host of disputes and differences.<br />
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This will be fourth visit of Modi to China after he came to power in 2014. He is again due to visit China to take part in the SCO summit to be held at Qingdao city on June 9-10.<br />
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The Modi-Xi summit meeting is taking place in the backdrop of series of high level interactions between both the two countries starting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang's visit to India in December, the first after Dokalam standoff.<br />
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It was followed by two meetings between National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi and the visit early this year by Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale to Beijing.<br />
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The two countries also held 11th Joint Economic Group meeting and the fifth Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED) here recently.<br />
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Besides meetings between officials from the two foreign ministries on both sides held working mechanism meeting on border affairs and cross border rivers as well disarmament and non-proliferation dialogue in which India's entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) was discussed and culminated in today's talks between Swaraj and Wang.<br />
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-Source: News Agency</div>
Vyga News Deskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029540792067918258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4761541243752472066.post-28177984396063138052018-04-14T04:46:00.000-07:002018-04-14T04:46:55.789-07:00 'Large part' of Syria chemical arsenal destroyed: France <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Paris: French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said today that missile strikes carried out overnight in Syria by Britain, France and the US had destroyed a "large part" of the Damascus government's stocks of chemical weapons.<br />
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"A large part of its chemical arsenal has been destroyed," Le Drian told BFM television. "A lot has been destroyed in last night's strikes."<br />
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He also said France had "solid intelligence" that the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was behind the gas attack in the rebel-held city of Douma last weekend, which monitors say killed at least 40 people.<br />
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"On the question of chemical weapons, there is a red line that must not be crossed, and if it should be crossed again, there will be another intervention," Le Drian said.<br />
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"But I think the lesson has been learned.<br />
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-Source: News Agencies</div>
Vyga News Deskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029540792067918258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4761541243752472066.post-25105389668478359012018-04-14T04:45:00.000-07:002018-04-14T04:45:01.905-07:00 National Film Awards: Malayalam filmdom has lots to cheer <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Thiruvananthapuram: The Malayalam film industry performed well at the 65th National Film Awards today, registering wins in categories such as the best director and the supporting actor.<br />
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Eminent filmmaker Jayaraj bagged the best director and best adapted screenplay award for his movie "Bhayanakam", while Fahadh Faasil was adjudged the best supporting actor for his stellar performance in "Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum".<br />
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A jubilant Jayaraj, who won the best director award for the second time, said "Bhayanakam", a part of his 'navarasa' series, revolves around the story of youths from Kuttanad in Kerala who had joined the British Indian army during World War II.<br />
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"I dedicate this award to those Kuttanad men who had joined the army and lost their lives in the war," he said.<br />
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The "Deshadanam" director also remembered Jnanpith laureate Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai as the theme of the movie was taken from the author's magnum opus "Kayar".<br />
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Fahadh Faasil, who was seen surrounded by fans and well-wishers soon after the announcement in Delhi, said his first ever national award was completely "unexpected."<br />
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The actor, who played a thief in "Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum", said the role was a "challenging" one.<br />
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"I expected some awards for the movie as many of my friends thought it had a pan-India appeal, but I never expected an individual award for me," Fazil, who is currently shooting for director Amal Neerad's movie, said.<br />
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He also thanked his director Dileesh Pothan, script writer Sajeev Pazhoor and his co-stars for his performance.<br />
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Veteran playback singer K J Yesudas, actor Parvathy, scriptwriter Sajeev Pazhoor and cinematographer Nikhil S Praveen were among those who brought laurels to the industry.<br />
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Yesudas received his eighth National Award as he was adjudged the best playback singer for the song 'Poyi Maranjakaalam' from "Viswasapoorvam Mansoor".<br />
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Actor Parvathy received a special mention for her performance in the Mahesh Narayan-directed survival thriller "Take Off", which also earned the best production design award for Santhosh Raman.<br />
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The wins by "Bhayanakam" also includes the best cinematography award for Nikhil S Praveen.<br />
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Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan congratulated the winners.<br />
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-Source: News Agencies</div>
Vyga News Deskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029540792067918258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4761541243752472066.post-43373807087465808742018-04-14T04:43:00.000-07:002018-04-14T04:43:11.339-07:00Malayalam actor condemns Kathua rape incident <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Thiruvananthapuram: Malayalam actor Parvathy today condemned the alleged gangrape and murder of an eight-year old girl from Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir, saying she was 'ashamed' of the incident.<br />
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She posted a picture of herself on Facebook, in which she is seen holding a placard that read: "I am Hindustan. I am ashamed. #JusticeforAasifa. 8 years old. Gangraped. Murdered in 'Devi'stan temple. #KATHUA."<br />
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The eight-year old girl from the nomadic Bakerwal Muslim community disappeared near her house on January 10 in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua district. A week later, her body was found in the same area.<br />
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A Special Investigation Team of the Crime Branch, formed to probe the incident, has arrested eight people, including two special police officers (SPOs) and a head constable and a Sub-inspector, who were charged with destroying evidence.<br />
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Jammu has been on tenterhooks since the brutal rape and murder, with a group Hindu Ekta Manch siding with the accused and lawyers obstructing the submission of charge sheet in the court.<br />
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-Source: News Agencies</div>
Vyga News Deskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029540792067918258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4761541243752472066.post-22658545528784527962018-04-13T04:22:00.000-07:002018-04-13T04:22:43.443-07:00Vinod Khanna, Sridevi recognised posthumously, 'Village Rockstars" best film<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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New Delhi: Doffing its hat to mainstream stars Vinod Khanna and Sridevi, the 65th National Film Awards today recognised their contribution to the Indian cinema by honouring them posthumously with the Dadasaheb Phalke and best actress awards.<br />
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Announcing Sridevi's name, feature film jury head Shekhar Kapur said the actor was the most deserving candidate.<br />
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Sridevi, whose filmography spanned across 50 years and in 300 films in languages such as Tamil, Telugu and Hindi, was recognised for her role of an angry mother seeking justice for her daughter in rape revenge drama, "Mom".<br />
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Her death, at the age of 54 in February this year, had shocked the country. Kapur had worked with Sridevi in "Mr India".<br />
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"It was not because of the relationship we shared but because she was the most deserving candidate for her portrayal in 'Mom'," Kapur said.<br />
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Sridevi's husband Boney Kapoor became emotional when told about her win.<br />
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"Thank you. I just wish she was here today to see this," Boney told PTI.<br />
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Khanna, one of the biggest stars of Hindi films in '70s and '80s, became the 49th recipient of Dadasaheb Phalke award, Indian cinema's highest honour. Probably, the only second actor to be named for the honour posthumously after Prithviraj Kapoor.<br />
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The jury recognised the diversity in Indian cinema by distributing accolades to films belonging to different regional languages.<br />
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Rima Das' Assamese film "Village Rockstars", about the music aspirations of a village girl, was named the best feature film, besides scoring awards for the best location sound recordist, editing and best child artiste (Bhanita Das).<br />
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Jayaraj was named the best director and the best adapted screenplay writer for his Malayalam film "Bhayanakam". It also won the best cinematography award.<br />
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Riddhi Sen was recognised as the best actor for Kaushik Ganguly's "Nagarkirtan", which was also bagged awards in multiple categories, such as the best costume, makeup and special jury.<br />
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Oscar-winning music composer A R Rahman swept the best music direction category by winning the best songs for the Tamil Film "Kaatru Veliyidai" and the best background music for the Hindi film "Mom".<br />
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"Sinjar", made in Jasari language, won the Indira Gandhi award for the best debut film of a director to Pampally. It was also recognised as the best film in Jasari langauge.<br />
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Mainstream blockbuster "Baahubali: The Conclusion" won national award for best popular film providing wholesome entertainment, besides being named for special effects and action direction.<br />
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Ganesh Acharya won the choreography award for the Hindi film "Toilet: Ek Prem Katha".<br />
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Hindi film "Newton", a dark comedy on Indian democracy, was named the best Hindi film and a special mention went to its actor Pankaj Tripathi for his portrayal of a cynical CRPF officer Atma Singh. Kapur called Tripathi's portrayal one of the highlights of the Amit V Masurkar-directed film.<br />
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"This is a very important day for me, and an equally important award. I am thankful to the government for recognising my work. When I stepped out of my village, I had the desire of winning a national award someday. I am humbled," Tripathi told PTI.<br />
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Nargis Dutt award for the best feature film on national integration went to the Marathi film "Dhappa", while the Malayalam film "Aalorumkkam" was recognised as the best film on social issues.<br />
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Hindi film star Divya Dutta was named the best supporting actress for her role in "Irada", which also bagged the award for the best film on environmental conservation/preservation.<br />
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"I just heard about it. It is my first national award even though everyone thought I had already won a national award. Today, it has finally come true," Dutta told PTI.<br />
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Fahad Fazil won the best supporting actor for the Malayalam film "Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum". The film was also recognised for original screenplay, while the best dialogues went to Odiya film "Hello Arsi". It was also recognised as the best Odiya film.<br />
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"Mhorkya", a Marathi film, was adjudged the best children's film, while the best Marathi film award went to "Kaccha Limbu".<br />
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Veteran singer K J Yesudas was recognised as the best male singer for his song 'Poy Maranja Kalam' in the Malayalam film "Viswasapoorva M Mansoor", while the best female singer went to Shashaa Tirupati for the song "Vaan" for "Kaatru Veliyidai".<br />
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-Source: News Agency</div>
Vyga News Deskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029540792067918258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4761541243752472066.post-72758069743293889202018-04-13T04:19:00.000-07:002018-04-13T04:19:52.559-07:00Threat of U.S.-Russia clash hangs over Syria <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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BEIRUT: The prospect of Western military action in Syria that could lead to confrontation with Russia hung over the Middle East on Friday but there was no clear sign that a U.S.-led attack was imminent.<br />
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International chemical weapons experts were travelling to Syria to investigate an alleged gas attack by government forces on the town of Douma which killed dozens of people. Two days ago U.S. President Donald Trump warned that missiles “will be coming” in response to that attack.<br />
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The allies of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad were eager on Friday to lay blame for the crisis not with him but with Trump.<br />
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Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said international relations should not depend on one person’s morning mood, in apparent reference to Trump’s tweets.<br />
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“We cannot depend on what someone on the other side of the ocean takes into his head in the morning. We cannot take such risks,” said Dvorkovich, speaking at a forum.<br />
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Russia has warned the West against attacking Assad, who is also supported by Iran, and says there is no evidence of a chemical attack in Douma, a town near Damascus which had been held by rebels until this month.<br />
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Vassily Nebenzia, Moscow’s ambassador to the United Nations, said he “cannot exclude” war between the United States and Russia.<br />
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“The immediate priority is to avert the danger of war,” he told reporters. “We hope there will be no point of no return.”<br />
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Sheikh Naim Qassem, deputy leader of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah, told Lebanese daily al-Joumhouria: “The conditions do not point to a total war happening...unless Trump and (Israeli leader Benjamin) Netanyahu completely lose their minds.”<br />
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U.S. allies have offered strong words of support for Washington but no clear military plans have yet emerged.<br />
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British Prime Minister Theresa May won backing from her senior ministers on Thursday to take unspecified action with the United States and France to deter further use of chemical weapons by Syria.<br />
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Trump was also expected to speak with French President Emmanuel Macron, who said on Thursday France had proof the Syrian government carried out the Douma attack and would decide whether to strike back when all necessary information had been gathered.<br />
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ASSAD TIGHTENS GRIP<br />
Trump himself appeared on Thursday to cast doubt on at least the timing of any U.S.-led military action, tweeting: “Never said when an attack on Syria would take place. Could be very soon or not so soon at all!”<br />
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He met his national security team on the situation in Syria later in the day and “no final decision has been made,” the White House said in a statement.<br />
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“We are continuing to assess intelligence and are engaged in conversations with our partners and allies,” it said.<br />
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A team of experts from the global chemical weapons watchdog, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, was travelling to Syria and will start its investigations into the Douma incident on Saturday, the Netherlands-based agency said.<br />
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The capture of Douma has clinched a major victory for Assad, crushing what was once a centre of the insurgency near Damascus, and underlines his unassailable position in the war.<br />
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He has cemented his control over most of the western, more heavily populated, part of the country, with rebels and jihadist insurgents largely contained to two areas on Syria’s northern and southern borders.<br />
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They still control the northwestern province of Idlib, near Turkey, and a southern region around Deraa, on the border with Jordan. Turkish forces and rebel allies control territory in northern Syria, while U.S.-backed Kurdish forces hold wide areas of the northeast, and pockets of Islamic State fighters remain.<br />
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-Source: News Agency</div>
Vyga News Deskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029540792067918258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4761541243752472066.post-51557576716928049142018-04-13T04:17:00.000-07:002018-04-13T04:17:28.536-07:00Movie review: October Unexpected humour in serious situations<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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What can you do for someone who is in a coma? Someone who is lying in a bed for months and unable to move? If you are Dan, the protagonist in Shoojit Sircar’s “October”, you get the patient’s eyebrows threaded. Bushy eyebrows do no one any good, even if you are unconscious.<br />
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“October” is full of such moments - it teases out unexpected humour in serious situations. Sircar and long-time collaborator Juhi Chaturvedi lovingly piece together a story about life, death and the space between.<br />
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An intern at a five-star hotel, Dan is petulant, combative and often childish. His mulishness gets him into trouble with his superiors, and he is a misfit in an industry that requires smiling faces and submissiveness. His colleague Shiuli (which in Hindi means "jasmine," which blooms in October) is the opposite; her wide eyes and soft-spoken behaviour make her an ideal employee. She and Dan are acquaintances at best, but that changes when Shiuli (Banita Sandhu) has a freak fall.<br />
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One of the illusions of youth is that it is eternal, and Dan acts like he has all the time in the world to grow up. But when he sees Shiuli lying in a hospital bed, strapped to a machine and struggling to stay alive, something changes. As their other friends get over the shock and return to everyday life, Dan doesn’t. He frequents the hospital, watching over her, berating a hospital worker who he thought stared too long at her, inquiring whether the doctor who is treating her is really good, and getting a beautician to come in and do Shiuli’s eyebrows.<br />
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He lends support to Shiuli’s mother (Gitanjali Rao) as she struggles to cope with her daughter’s condition, brings Shiuli her favorite jasmine flowers and resists stubbornly when a relative of the girl suggests “pulling the plug”.<br />
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Sircar captures the hospital life wonderfully – the endless waiting, the friendships you form with others, the whirring and beeping of machines that never seem to end. Background music is used sparingly in these scenes, and Sircar juxtaposes hospital life with life in the hotel where Dan works.<br />
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Avik Mukhopadhyay’s camera work focuses on the clockwork precision and efficiency that is on display in both places. A nurse working on her shift is remarkably similar to a waiter working his. The clean, sanitised atmosphere is the same, but services these two places provide are very different. Several times, the film segues from one hospital scene to a hotel scene, and it works very well as a contrast between the two worlds.<br />
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A handout photo from 'October'<br />
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The stubbornness that gets Dan into trouble at work stands him in good stead when he’s taking care of Shiuli. As Dan, Varun Dhawan is stellar, channeling an inner strength. Rao is equally good, and her scene with Dhawan at the end of the film is one of the highlights. Debutante Banita Sandhu doesn’t have much to do, but even the smaller characters in this film, like Nimmy Raphael, who plays a nurse, leave a mark.<br />
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“October” doesn’t hurry from one plot point to the other. In fact there aren’t any plot points. This might prompt some to call it slow, but it is not. Sircar and Chaturvedi bring a meditative quality to the story, and it is this quality that makes “October” stand out.<br />
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The views expressed in this article are not those of Reuters News. This article is website-exclusive and cannot be reproduced without permission.<br />
-Source: News Agency</div>
Vyga News Deskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029540792067918258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4761541243752472066.post-79544991600775922022018-04-13T04:14:00.001-07:002018-04-13T04:16:29.408-07:00Indian man dies in Japanese immigration detention centre in apparent suicide <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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TOKYO: An Indian man died on Friday at a Japanese immigration detention centre in an apparent suicide, the latest death in a system widely criticised over medical standards, monitoring of detainees and mental health care.<br />
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Immigration is a sensitive subject in Japan, where many pride themselves on cultural and ethnic homogeneity even amid a shrinking population and the worst labour shortages since the 1970s.<br />
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Guards at the facility found the man, who was in his 30s, in a shower room with a towel wrapped around his neck, the East Japan Immigration Center said in a statement.<br />
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The man, who was not breathing at the time, was administered CPR before being taken to hospital, where he was declared dead about an hour later.<br />
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The cause of death has not been confirmed but was thought to be suicide, said centre spokesman Daisuke Akinaga, who declined to identify the man. He said police were investigating.<br />
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Kimiko Tanaka, an activist who works with detainees at the centre, said the man had been denied release on Thursday. He had been detained in Japan for around ten months, she said, citing a detainee on the same block as the source of the information.<br />
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Akinaga, the spokesman, declined to comment on the man’s detention history.<br />
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The death took the toll in Japan’s immigration detention system to 14 since 2006. Four of those, apart from the most recent, were suicides.<br />
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Japan’s 17 immigration detention facilities held 1,317 people as of Friday, says the justice ministry, which oversees them.<br />
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A government watchdog, activists and lawyers have criticised the detention centres over the treatment of detainees, medical care and how guards respond to medical emergencies.<br />
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Last year, a Vietnamese detainee who died at the same centre, northeast of Tokyo, was shown by a government report to have been left lying on the floor for hours before guards called an ambulance.<br />
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A Reuters investigation in 2016 into the death of a man at a Tokyo detention centre revealed serious deficiencies in the medical treatment and monitoring of the centers.<br />
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The investigation also found that mental illnesses ranging from depression to anxiety were rife, with the prescription of sedatives and antidepressants common.<br />
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-Source: News Agency</div>
Vyga News Deskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029540792067918258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4761541243752472066.post-62938099767742621702018-04-05T04:22:00.003-07:002018-04-05T04:22:43.273-07:00Salman gets 5-year jail term in blackbuck poaching case, 5 others acquitted <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Jodhpur: A Jodhpur court on Thursday sentenced Bollywood star Salman Khan to five years in jail for killing two blackbucks in October 1998 but acquitted his colleagues Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Neelam and Sonali Bendre giving benefit of doubt, a prosecution lawyer said<br />
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Preparations for sending Salman to the Jodhpur Central jail are in place, Mahipal Bishnoi, the prosecution counsel, told reporters<br />
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Salman was sentenced to jail for a five-year term and a fine of Rs 10,000 was imposed on the actor, he said<br />
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A fifth person, Dushyant Singh, a local from the area, has also been acquitted, he said<br />
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Salman was found guilty of killing the blackbucks, from the antelope family, in Kankani village near Jodhpur on the night of October 1, 1998 during the shooting of the film "Hum Saath Saath Hain"<br />
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Salman, who has been held guilty under Section 9/51 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, faces a maximum punishment of six years behind bars<br />
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Final arguments of the case were completed in the trial court on March 28, after which Chief Judicial Magistrate Dev Kumar Khatri had reserved his judgment<br />
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All the actors were in a Gypsy that night with Salman, 52, in the driving seat. He spotted a herd of blackbucks and killed two of them, the lawyer said<br />
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Dressed in a black shirt, Salman reached the court earlier in the morning with his bodyguard<br />
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The other actors, some of them accompanied by their family members, were also in the courtroom when the verdict was read out.<br />
-Source: News Agency</div>
Vyga News Deskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029540792067918258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4761541243752472066.post-80007067222139185232018-04-05T04:21:00.000-07:002018-04-05T04:21:03.969-07:00Tamil Nadu shutdown strike paralyses normal life<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Chennai: Normal life was paralysed in Tamil Nadu on Thursday due to a DMK-called shutdown over the Centre's failure to set up a Cauvery Management Board (CMB).<br />
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DMK leader M.K.Stalin led a massive procession comprising members from his party and his allies, on the arterial Anna Salai to Marina Beach here affecting traffic flow.<br />
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He was accompanied by Tamil Nadu Congress leader S. Thirunavukkarasar.<br />
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Speaking to reporters before being taken away by the police, Stalin said the strike was successful and thanked all those who cooperated.<br />
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Hundreds of protestors belonging to DMK, Congress, CPI, CPI-M, MDMK, VCK and farmers were also taken into police custody across the state.<br />
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In Chennai, very few government buses were plying on the roads while autorickshaws stayed off.<br />
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But radio taxis were available.<br />
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Suburban and long distance train services were also being operated as usual, a Southern Railway official told IANS.<br />
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However, six suburban trains were held up at the Avadi point here, the official said.<br />
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There were brief protests on the rail tracks in Salem and Tirunelvelli.<br />
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In Tirunelvelli, a large number of DMK cadres protested in front of a passenger train. Around 150 protesters were detained.<br />
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As a result of the Tirunelvelli protest, the Chennai-bound Guruvayur Express and Trivandrum-bound Ananthapuri Express were delayed, according to the Southern Railway official.<br />
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In the hosiery town of Tiruppur, units were shutdown in support of the strike.<br />
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However petrol bunks stayed open and milk supply was not affected.<br />
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As per reports reaching here, shops in Erode, Nagapattinam, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Sivaganga, Ramanathapuram downed their shutters.<br />
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In neighbouring Puducherry, transport services were affected while three buses belonging to Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation were damaged.<br />
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The Supreme Court on February 16 reduced Tamil Nadu's share of Cauvery water from 177.25 thousand million cubic feet (TMC), which was less than the 192 TMC allocated by a tribunal in 2007. Karnataka's share of water was increased by 14.75 TMC.<br />
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The Centre failed to set up the CMB within six weeks of the apex court's February 16 order. The deadline ended on March 29.<br />
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-Source: News Agency</div>
Vyga News Deskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029540792067918258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4761541243752472066.post-69055733835133432002018-04-05T04:17:00.000-07:002018-04-05T04:17:55.147-07:00Two women who consumed 'prasadam' at temple dead <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Coimbatore: Two women, who were among the 30 persons hospitalised after taking temple 'prasadam', died today at a government hospital in Mettupalayam, some 45 kms from here, police said.<br />
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The devotees, including two children, were hospitalised yesterday after they partook the 'prasadam' (offering) distributed at Selvamuthu Mariammam temple in Mettupalayam, following complaints of sickness and stomach ailment.<br />
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Two women-Loganayaki and Savithri- died this morning without responding to treatment, while others are recovering, police said.<br />
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Use of spoilt ghee and oil for cooking could have caused the food poisoning, they added.<br />
-Source: News Agency</div>
Vyga News Deskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029540792067918258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4761541243752472066.post-41098019376487956932018-04-05T04:15:00.000-07:002018-04-05T04:15:21.462-07:00Percussion expert Padmanabha Marar dead <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Kottayam: Famous percussionist Padmanahha Marar known for 'Sopana Sangeetham' passed away at his residence near here yesterday, his family said.<br />
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Sopana Sangeetham prevalent in the temples of Kerala is sung with beating of a small, hourglass-shaped ethnic drum called 'edakka'.<br />
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Marar, who is said to be 113 years old, performed the classical music till three years ago at the Lord Sree Rama temple in Ramapuram.<br />
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He is survived by four children.<br />
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The Sangeetha Nataka Akademi had in 2014 presented him the Gurupooja award for his contribution in propagating the temple music and art.<br />
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-Source: News Agency</div>
Vyga News Deskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029540792067918258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4761541243752472066.post-36877592649963446542018-04-05T04:13:00.000-07:002018-04-05T04:13:43.356-07:00Record-breaking Mirabai Chanu claims India's first gold of 21st CWG <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Gold Coast: World champion weightlifter Saikhom Mirabai Chanu (48kg) went on a record-smashing spree, claiming three of them in a power-packed performance, to secure India's first gold medal at the 21st Commonwealth Games here today.<br />
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In a remarkable performance, Chanu smashed the Commonwealth and the Games record in snatch, pulling off clean lifts in all her three attempts (80kg, 84kg and 86kg).<br />
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She then lifted more than double her body weight (103kg, 107kg and 110kg) in three successful attempts to claim the clean and jerk as well as the overall Games record. The showing helped her better the silver she had won in the 2014 Glasgow CWG.<br />
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"I was not expecting to break records but I certainly wanted to break them when I came here. I can't put in words, how it feels right now," an exhausted but jubilant Chanu told PTI.<br />
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"I can only say that I have worked really hard to achieve this. I am very happy. This is my second CWG medal, it is such a good feeling," she added.<br />
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The Indian ended with a total lift of 196kg (86kg+110kg), earning a massive applause from the fans at the Carrara Sports and Leisure Centre.<br />
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"My next target is the Asian Games, I want to better this as well. It will be very tough and I have to work really hard for it. There was hardly any competition here but I still had to give my best," she said.<br />
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"The Asian region is the toughest in weightlifting because there is China and Thailand. But I am confident of a good performance," she added.<br />
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The 23-year-old's previous best was a total lift of 194kg (snatch 85kg and 109kg in clean and jerk) achieved in the World Championships a few months ago.<br />
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"This continues to heal the wounds of my Olympic heartbreak. I had such bad luck there," said the Manipuri, referring to her failure to manage even a single clean lift at the Rio Games in 2016.<br />
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Her nearest but still a very distant rival going into today's competition, Amanda Braddock of Canada, failed to complete a single lift in the clean and jerk after managing a best of 76kg in snatch.<br />
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The silver in the event went to Mauritian Marie Ranaivosova (76kg+94kg), while the bronze was taken by Sri Lanka's Dinusha Gomes (70kg+85kg).<br />
-Source: News Agency</div>
Vyga News Deskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029540792067918258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4761541243752472066.post-58413727826701089482018-03-30T11:37:00.000-07:002018-03-30T11:37:36.261-07:00More than 25 million people apply for Indian railway vacancies<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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NEW DELHI: More than 25 million people, a number greater than Australia’s population, have applied for about 90,000 positions on India’s state-run railways, underlining the challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi faces in providing millions of jobs ahead of an election in 2019.<br />
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Modi was voted into power in 2014 on promises to reignite growth in Asia’s third-largest economy and provide jobs. But his flagship “Make in India” initiative to lift the share of manufacturing in India’s $2 trillion economy to 25 percent from about 17 percent and create 100 million jobs by 2022 has so far failed to deliver on its promise.<br />
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The railway, which currently employs 1.3 million people, said it was filling up tens of thousands of vacant positions for engine drivers, technicians, carpenters, track inspection crews and other roles related to improving safety in the world’s fourth-largest network.<br />
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“We’ve not been recruiting for the last couple of years and attrition is already there. And so we require people,” Ashwani Lohani, chairman of the railways board, told Reuters.<br />
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The Railway Recruitment Board advertised for the positions last month and since then 25 million people have filed online applications from around the country, Lohani said. The closing date is Saturday.<br />
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The recruitment drive would be the largest conducted by a state-run organisation since Modi took office four years ago, struggling to find jobs for an estimated 1 million young people that enter the labour force each month.<br />
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“The huge number of applications shows the level of stress,” said Mahesh Vyas, chief executive officer at economic think-tank CMIE.<br />
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“It shows that there is really a paucity of jobs, and the other thing is about the great preference that Indians have got for government jobs. We need to move away from this.”<br />
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The railways are India’s biggest employer and are in the midst of a $130 billion modernisation plan.<br />
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Applicants will take a written test available in 15 languages, according to the ad. There is also a physical fitness test and different criteria for men and women have been specified.<br />
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Lohani said it would be a logistical challenge sifting through 25 million candidates but the railway was equipped to handle it. “We had to come out with an open advertisement, that is the only way to do it,” he said.<br />
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India’s unemployment rate surged to a 15-month high of 6.1 percent in February, think-tank CMIE said.<br />
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Even after the railway has completed the recruitment, the challenge will be how to train the new workers, which is critical for safety, another expert said.<br />
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“When you take 90,000 people in one shot, you don’t have the training facilities,” said Pronab Sen, country director for the UK-based International Growth Centre, which is focused on economic policies.<br />
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Source: News Agency</div>
Vyga News Deskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029540792067918258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4761541243752472066.post-13470345118486604962018-03-30T11:35:00.000-07:002018-03-30T11:35:52.229-07:00Soccer: Valverde wary of playing Messi against Sevilla<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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BARCELONA : arcelona forward Lionel Messi is still feeling discomfort with his thigh and the club need to exercise caution to ensure he does not tear the muscle, coach Ernesto Valverde said on Friday ahead of his side’s La Liga game at Sevilla.<br />
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Messi joined up with the Argentina squad after ending Barca’s 2-0 win over Athletic Bilbao with a muscle problem but did not feature in the friendlies against Italy and Spain.<br />
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The Argentine could only complete half Barca’s training session on Thursday and even though the club have not issued a medical report on the injury, Valverde declined to say whether he intended to pick his talisman on Saturday.<br />
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“We have to wait,” Valverde told a news conference on Friday.<br />
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“We are taking care of him, just as Argentina did. He has a little discomfort and we have to bear that in mind, because if it leads to a muscular tear then the situation is far more serious.”<br />
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Barca are 11 points clear of nearest challengers Atletico Madrid at the top of La Liga and could afford to leave Messi out against Sevilla without the decision significantly impacting their bid for a 25th league title.<br />
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They host AS Roma in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final on Wednesday, one of seven games in the space of 22 days.<br />
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“We prepare for tomorrow’s game in isolation of Wednesday’s but you always have to be thinking about the next week or two,” Valverde added.<br />
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“The accumulation of games makes you think about taking risks with a player. Tomorrow’s game is important but so is the next one and the one after that. On one hand you want to focus on each game, but you’re also thinking about the wider picture.”<br />
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The injured Sergio Busquets and French left back Lucas Digne are Valverde’s only certain absentees for the game against sixth-placed Sevilla, who host Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Tuesday.<br />
<br />
Valverde, however, expects Spain midfielder Busquets to recover from a toe injury in time to face Roma.<br />
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Source: News Agency</div>
Vyga News Deskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029540792067918258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4761541243752472066.post-80614404485270301972018-03-30T11:28:00.000-07:002018-03-30T11:28:39.732-07:00'I've never been so happy': Nobel winner Malala in Pakistan<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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ISLAMABAD: Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai says she has pined for her home in Pakistan’s picturesque Swat Valley, even as she recalled two years living in fear under the Taliban’s harsh interpretation of Islamic law.<br />
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Visiting her homeland for the first time since a Taliban gunman shot her in the head over her blog advocating girls’ education, 20-year-old Yousafzai also contradicted Pakistani critics who accuse her of promoting an ideology at odds with the country’s Islamic values.<br />
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“I am proud of my religion, and I am proud of my country,” she told Reuters in an interview at her hotel on Friday.<br />
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Wearing a rose-printed head scarf and flowing tunic and trousers - one of many outfits family and friends brought her from Pakistan to Britain, where she is studying at Oxford University - Yousafzai said she was elated at being home.<br />
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“I had never been so excited for anything. I’ve never been so happy before,” she said, though she would not discuss whether she had received security clearance to visit Swat.<br />
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“I miss everything about Pakistan ... right from the rivers, the mountains, to even the dirty streets and the garbage around our house, and my friends and how we used to have gossip and talk about our school life, to how we used to fight with our neighbors.”<br />
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She said she has wanted to return before but, aside from security concerns, there was the hectic pace of school and her entry exams to Oxford, where she began studying last year for a degree in politics, philosophy and economics.<br />
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Yousafzai’s journey to becoming the youngest ever Nobel winner began with the local branch of the hardline Taliban movement taking over her hometown in Swat, about 250 km (160 miles) from the capital, Islamabad, in 2007, when she was 9 years old.<br />
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The Tehreek e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) banned television, music and girls’ education, and burned about 200 schools, following the example of the 1990s Taliban government in neighboring Afghanistan, which forcibly excluded women from nearly every aspect of public life.<br />
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“I still remember each and every moment, right from the fear while sleeping at night that you might not be alive the next day,” Yousafzai said. “The fear that if you are going to school, someone might stop you and throw acid in your face.”<br />
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Her father was a teacher in a school that educated girls and managed to stay open until early 2009.<br />
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After the Pakistani army drove out the Taliban in mid-2009 she became a symbol for girls’ education through a blog she wrote for the BBC’s Urdu service, which started while the Taliban were still in power, and a documentary “Class Dismissed”, that profiled her.<br />
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It made her a target. In 2012, a masked gunman boarded her school bus, singled her out and shot her. The Taliban later said it had carried out the attack for her promotion of liberalism.<br />
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She was flown to Britain for surgery and has remained abroad since, co-writing a best-selling book “I Am Malala” and starting a foundation advocating girls’ education worldwide.<br />
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In 2014 she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, along with an Indian activist.<br />
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Though she is perhaps the world’s best-known Pakistani, Yousafzai - known almost universally as just “Malala” - is polarizing figure at home, beloved by many but reviled by others.<br />
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A group of private schools in Pakistan declared Friday to be “I Am Not Malala Day”, for what its spokesman described as her “anti-Islam and anti-Pakistan ideology”.<br />
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That description puzzles Malala.<br />
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“I just don’t know anything I’ve said that makes me anti-Pakistan or anti-Islam,” she said. “Islam has taught me the importance of peace. Islam has taught me the importance of education. The first word of Islam, or the first word of the Koran, is ‘Iqra’ which means ‘read’.”<br />
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Government commitment to education was one of the subjects of her meeting on Thursday with Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, whose government, along with the army, helped arrange her trip, including providing security.<br />
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“We did talk about education and I appreciated what he has done, but I think there is a lot more that needs to be done. The government promised 4 percent of GDP for education but only so far has increased it to 2.7,” she said.<br />
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Meetings with the prime minister - as well as other world leaders - might seem a far cry from a schoolgirl’s life in the Swat Valley, but Malala said some aspects of her life, like attending Oxford, were longtime dreams.<br />
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“My initial plan was that I would continue my education, I would continue speaking out for the girls who cannot go to school ... and one day once I finish my secondary education, I will apply to Oxford,” she said.<br />
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Source: News Agency</div>
Vyga News Deskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029540792067918258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4761541243752472066.post-76847979111755805502018-03-30T11:23:00.001-07:002018-03-30T11:23:45.532-07:00Russia, in spy rift riposte, expels 59 diplomats from 23 countries<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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MOSCOW: Russia expelled 59 diplomats from 23 countries on Friday and said it reserved the right to take action against four other nations in a worsening standoff with the West over the poisoning of a former Russian spy and his daughter in Britain.<br />
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Russia said it was responding to what it called the baseless demands for scores of its own diplomats to leave a slew of mostly Western countries that have joined London and Washington in censuring Moscow over the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.<br />
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A day earlier, Moscow ordered the expulsion of 60 U.S. diplomats and the closing of the U.S. consulate in St Petersburg, Russia’s second city, in retaliation for the biggest ejection of diplomats since the Cold War.<br />
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Preparations appeared to be under way on Friday to close the St Petersburg mission down, with a removals truck making repeated journeys to and from the consulate which took delivery of a large pizza order for its staff.<br />
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Russia summoned senior envoys on Friday from most of the other countries that have expelled Russian diplomats and told them it was expelling a commensurate number of theirs.<br />
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Russia has already retaliated in kind against Britain for ejecting 23 diplomats over the first known use of a military-grade nerve agent on European soil since World War Two. British ambassador Laurie Bristow was summoned again on Friday.<br />
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The Russian Foreign Ministry said Bristow had been told London had just one month to cut its diplomatic contingent in Russia to the same size as the Russian mission in Britain.<br />
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A spokeswoman for the British Foreign Office did not say how many British diplomats would be affected, but said Russia’s response was regrettable and Moscow was in flagrant breach of international law over the killing of the former spy.<br />
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The poisoning, in southern England, has united much of the West in taking action against what it regards as the hostile policies of President Vladimir Putin. This includes the United States under President Donald Trump, who Putin had hoped would improve ties.<br />
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Russia rejects Britain’s accusation it stood behind the attack and has cast the allegations as part of an elaborate Western plot to sabotage East-West relations and isolate Moscow.<br />
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The hospital where she is being treated said on Thursday that Yulia Skripal was getting better after spending three weeks in a critical condition due to the nerve toxin attack. Her father remains in a critical but stable condition.<br />
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The BBC, citing sources, reported on Friday that Yulia was “conscious and talking”.<br />
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During the course of Friday, the Russian Foreign Ministry summoned senior embassy officials from Australia, Albania, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, the Netherlands, Croatia, Ukraine, Denmark, Ireland, Spain, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Romania, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Canada and the Czech Republic.<br />
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All were seen arriving in their official cars at the Foreign Ministry’s gothic building in Moscow.<br />
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“They (the diplomats) were handed protest notes and told that in response to the unwarranted demands of the relevant states on expelling Russian diplomats ... that the Russian side declares the corresponding number of staff working in those countries’ embassies in the Russian Federation persona non grata,” the ministry said in a statement.<br />
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Four other countries — Belgium, Hungary, Georgia and Montenegro — had only “at the last moment” announced that they too were expelling Russian diplomats over the Skripal affair, and Moscow reserved the right to take retaliatory action against them too, it said.<br />
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Emerging from the Foreign Ministry building, German ambassador Rudiger von Fritsch said Russia had questions to answer about the poisoning of Skripal, but Berlin remained open to dialogue with Moscow.<br />
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The U.S State Department said after Russia announced the expulsions on Thursday evening that it reserved the right to respond further, saying the list of diplomats designated for expulsion by Russia showed Moscow was not interested in diplomacy.<br />
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Source: News Agency</div>
Vyga News Deskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029540792067918258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4761541243752472066.post-54269168283172884292018-03-22T23:36:00.000-07:002018-03-22T23:36:07.970-07:00Trump picks hardliner Bolton to replace McMaster as national security adviser<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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WASHINGTON: U.S. President Donald Trump shook up his foreign policy team again on Thursday, replacing H.R. McMaster as national security adviser with John Bolton, a hawk who has advocated using military force against North Korea and Iran.<br />
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The move, announced in a tweet and a White House statement, came little more than a week after Trump fired Rex Tillerson as secretary of state and nominated Central Intelligence Agency Director Mike Pompeo to replace him.<br />
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The shake-up shows Trump, in office for 14 months, surrounding himself with advisers more likely to agree with his views and taking his foreign policy in a more hawkish direction.<br />
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What it means for a prospective summit meeting between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is unclear. The meeting is supposed to happen by the end of May, but an exact time and place have yet to be settled on.<br />
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Bolton’s appointment could doom the already endangered Iran nuclear deal. It could also lead to friction with Trump on how tough to be on Russia, with the president still holding out hope for improved ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin.<br />
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The news of Bolton’s appointment followed a meeting he had with Trump in the Oval Office. Even Bolton was caught by surprise. “I didn’t really expect an announcement this afternoon, but it’s obviously a great honour,” he told Fox News after the announcement. “I’m still getting used to it.”<br />
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Bolton, 69, is a Fox News analyst who contemplated a run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016. He is a familiar figure in Washington, with a walrus-like moustache and hard-charging views on many global challenges.<br />
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Some members of Congress immediately questioned his selection for the critical position in the White House.<br />
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“This is not a wise choice. Mr. Bolton does not have the temperament or judgement to be an effective national security adviser,” Democratic Senator Jack Reed said in a statement.<br />
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Bolton tweeted on Jan. 11 that time was running out on stopping North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme. He said: “We’ve got to look at the very unattractive choice of using military force to deny them that capability.”<br />
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At a time when Trump has threatened to withdraw the United States from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, unless Europe agrees to change it, Bolton has tweeted that the deal “needs to be abrogated.”<br />
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He has also called for “effective countermeasures to the cyber war that Russia is engaging.”<br />
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‘STRONG SIGNAL’<br />
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Elliott Abrams, a senior foreign policy aide to former Republican President George W. Bush, praised Trump’s choice, saying Bolton “proved when we were both in the Bush administration that he is an excellent and forceful bureaucrat.”<br />
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Bolton said in the Fox News interview that his past statements on various issues were behind him and he would be an honest broker ensuring the president sees all the options available to him.<br />
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“The important thing is what the president says and the advice I give him,” he said.<br />
<br />
Still, analysts said Bolton’s views would be influential.<br />
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“Bolton has long been an advocate for pre-emptive military action against North Korea, and his appointment as National Security Adviser is a strong signal that President Trump remains open to these options,” said Abraham Denmark, deputy assistant secretary of defence for East Asia under former President Barack Obama.<br />
<br />
“We should also expect an even more confrontational approach to China - a trade war may just be the beginning of a broader geopolitical competition,” he said.<br />
<br />
Bonnie Glaser, Asia expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington, said: “Bolton has long supported regime change in North Korea and closer ties with Taiwan. Fasten your seat belts.”<br />
<br />
As the State Department’s top arms control official under Bush, Bolton was a leading advocate of the 2003 invasion of Iraq - which was later found to have been based on bogus and exaggerated intelligence about President Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction and ties to terrorism.<br />
<br />
‘MUTUALLY AGREED’<br />
McMaster, hired early in Trump’s presidency to replace scandal-tarred Michael Flynn as national security adviser, had widely been expected to leave soon. Trump found McMaster’s style grating. The two had frequently clashed in meetings and Trump had been looking for a replacement, advisers said.<br />
<br />
The White House said Trump and McMaster had “mutually agreed” that he would leave. “I am very thankful for the service of General H.R. McMaster who has done an outstanding job & will always remain my friend,” Trump’s tweet said.<br />
<br />
“The two have been discussing this for some time. The timeline was expedited as they both felt it was important to have the new team in place, instead of constant speculation. This was not related to any one moment or incident, rather it was the result of ongoing conversations between the two,” a senior White House official said.<br />
<br />
The announcement came a day after Trump was angered by a leak of information from his presidential briefing papers that said he was advised specifically not to congratulate Putin on his disputed election victory. Trump told reporters he had congratulated Putin.<br />
<br />
McMaster, 55, is to stay on until mid-April. He said in a statement he was also requesting retirement from the U.S. Army, in which he holds the rank of three-star general.<br />
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-Source: News Agency</div>
Vyga News Deskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029540792067918258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4761541243752472066.post-13298170268154015032018-03-22T23:30:00.001-07:002018-03-22T23:30:29.110-07:00Stocks tumble, bonds and yen gain as trade war fears drive rush to safety<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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TOKYO : The rumblings of a global trade war shook stock and currency markets on Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump announced long-promised tariffs on Chinese goods and China retaliated with a pledge to fight to the end any such war.<br />
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Trump signed a presidential memorandum on Thursday that could impose tariffs on up to $60 billion of imports from China, although the measures have a 30-day consultation period.<br />
<br />
Investors fear that the U.S. measures could escalate into a trade war, with potentially dire consequences for the global economy.<br />
<br />
Beijing urged the United States on Friday to “pull back from the brink”.<br />
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“China doesn’t hope to be in a trade war, but is not afraid of engaging in one,” the Chinese commerce ministry said in a statement.<br />
<br />
China unveiled its own plans on Friday to impose tariffs on up to $3 billion of U.S. imports in retaliation against U.S. tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum products.<br />
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MSCI broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS fell 2.2 percent as stocks across the region dropped.<br />
<br />
Shanghai shares .SSE were down 3.3 percent.<br />
<br />
“The economic impact on both China and the U.S. will be determined by what form the tariffs end up taking. The effects are likely to be felt more strongly in the U.S. and will increase both consumer and producer prices,” wrote Hannah Anderson, global market strategist at J.P. Morgan Asset Management.<br />
<br />
“The equity market will bear the brunt of the market reaction. Most impacted will be the U.S., Korea, and Taiwan as companies domiciled in these markets make up a significant portion of the global production chain of Chinese exports.”<br />
<br />
Australian stocks lost 2.1 percent and Japan's Nikkei .N225 dropped 4.1 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Sen .HIS was down 2.8 percent, Taiwan shares .TWILIT slid 1.7 percent and South Korea's KOPS .KS11 retreated 2.3 percent.<br />
<br />
“A possible trade war between the United States and China is especially serious for the South Korean economy as it could directly or indirectly affect the country’s trade with them as well,” said Se Sang-young, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities.<br />
<br />
Setting a downbeat tone for Asia, the Dow .DJI on Thursday shed 2.9 percent, the S&P 500 .SPX dropped 2.5 percent and the Nasdaq .IXIC fell 2.4 percent.<br />
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-Source: News Agency</div>
Vyga News Deskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029540792067918258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4761541243752472066.post-9943741223302334882018-03-22T23:04:00.000-07:002018-03-22T23:04:01.302-07:00Honour killing in Kerala: Father stabbed daughter to death a day before her marriage<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>Staff Reporter</b><br />
<br />
Malappuram : Father stabbed daughter to death at Areekkode in Malappuram after an alleged honour killing incident. Athira (21) was the deceased. The police arrested the accused Areekode Poovathikanni Palathingal Rajan.<br />
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Athira was scheduled to marry on Friday without the concent of her father. Athira had been in love for a young man from Koyilandy. But Rajan was opposed to this relationship as the the young man is of low caste. Athira belongs to Thiyya community.<br />
<br />
The marriage was finalized after police intervention. Yesterday, there was an argument between Anita and father. Rajan, who was in alcohol stabbed daughter to death. Athira was rushed to a local hospital, where her life could not be saved.<br />
<br />
Athira was the dialysis technician at the Manjeri Medical College Hospital. She fell in love with Brigesh, a military man, during her studies. Rajan, an auto rickshaw driver, did not recognize this relationship and the couple got registered their marriage.<br />
<br />
Later, this issue came to Areekode police station. Rajan, who was relieved of his relatives, admitted that the marriage would be done well in the temple. Mean while, a drunken Rajan threatened to kill daughter last night. As Rajan became violent, Athira went to the neighborhood and locked the door.<br />
<br />
Rajan broken the door and doused daughter with a dagger. The marriage ceremony was scheduled at the South Pulath Saligrama temple this morning.<br />
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Vyga News Deskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029540792067918258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4761541243752472066.post-45255523371332349052018-03-22T01:14:00.000-07:002018-03-22T01:14:40.328-07:00 Zuckerberg apologizes for Facebook mistakes with user data, vows curbs<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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SAN FRANCISCO: Facebook Inc Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg apologized on Wednesday for mistakes his company made in how it handled data belonging to 50 million of its users and promised tougher steps to restrict developers’ access to such information.<br />
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The world’s largest social media network is facing growing government scrutiny in Europe and the United States about a whistleblower’s allegations that London-based political consultancy Cambridge Analytica improperly accessed user information to build profiles on American voters that were later used to help elect U.S. President Donald Trump in 2016.<br />
<br />
“This was a major breach of trust. I’m really sorry this happened. We have a basic responsibility to protect people’s data,”<br />
<br />
Zuckerberg said in an interview with CNN, breaking a public silence since the scandal erupted at the weekend.<br />
<br />
He said the social network planned to conduct an investigation of thousands of apps that have used Facebook’s platform, restrict developer access to data, and give members a tool that lets them to disable access to their Facebook data more<br />
easily.<br />
<br />
His plans did not represent a big reduction of advertisers’ ability to use Facebook data, which is the company’s lifeblood.<br />
<br />
Zuckerberg said he was open to additional government regulation and happy to testify before the U.S. Congress if he was the right person.<br />
<br />
“I’m not sure we shouldn’t be regulated,” he told CNN. “I actually think the question is more what is the right regulation<br />
<br />
rather than yes or no, should it be regulated? ... People should know who is buying the ads that they see on Facebook.”<br />
<br />
Zuckerberg said Facebook was committed to stopping interference in the U.S. midterm election in November and elections in India and Brazil.<br />
<br />
INVESTOR FEARS<br />
Facebook shares pared gains on Wednesday after Zuckerberg’s post, closing up 0.7 percent. The company has lost more than $45 billion of its stock market value over the past three days on investor fears that any failure by big tech firms to protect personal data could deter advertisers and users and invite tougher regulation.<br />
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Zuckerberg told the New York Times in an interview published on Wednesday he had not seen a “meaningful number of people” deleting their accounts over the scandal.<br />
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Facebook representatives, including Deputy Chief Privacy Officer Rob Sherman, met U.S. congressional staff for nearly two hours on Wednesday and planned to continue meetings on Capitol Hill on Thursday. Facebook was unable to answer<br />
many questions, two aides who attended the briefing said.<br />
<br />
The whistleblower who launched the scandal, Christopher Wylie, formerly of Cambridge Analytica, said on Twitter he had accepted invitations to testify before U.S. and UK lawmakers.<br />
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The German government said Facebook must explain whether the personal data of the country’s 30 million users were<br />
<br />
protected from unlawful use by third parties, according to a report in the Funke group of German regional newspapers.<br />
<br />
On Tuesday, the board of Cambridge Analytica suspended its Chief Executive Alexander Nix, who was caught in a secret recording boasting that his company played a decisive role in Trump’s victory.<br />
<br />
However, the academic who provided the data disputed that on Wednesday.<br />
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“I think what Cambridge Analytica has tried to sell is magic, and they’ve made claims that this is incredibly accurate and it tells you everything there is to tell about you. But I think the reality is it’s not that,” psychologist Aleksandr Kogan, an academic at Cambridge University, told the BBC in an interview.<br />
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-Source: News Agency</div>
Vyga News Deskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029540792067918258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4761541243752472066.post-14611886596995949602018-03-21T23:36:00.001-07:002018-03-21T23:36:44.551-07:00Katsuko Saruhashi: Google remembers Japanese geochemist with a special doodle<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Google on Thursday posted a new doodle on its home page to honour pioneering Japanese geochemist Katsuko Saruhashi with a Doodle on her 98th birthday.<br />
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Known for her groundbreaking research focused on acid rain and carbon dioxide level in seawater, Saruhashi became the first woman to earn a doctorate in chemistry from the University of Tokyo in 1957.<br />
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She was also the first to accurately measure the concentration of carbonic acid in water based on temperature, pH level, and chlorinity. Named ‘Saruhashi’s Table’ after her, this methodology has helped oceanographers everywhere.<br />
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“Today on her 98th birthday, we pay tribute to Dr. Katsuko Saruhashi for her incredible contributions to science, and for inspiring young scientists everywhere to succeed,” Google said.<br />
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Saruhashi also developed a technique to trace the travel of radioactive fallout across the oceans that led to restricting oceanic nuclear experimentation in 1963.<br />
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During a career spanning 35 years, Saruhashi received many awards. She became the first woman elected to the Science Council of Japan in 1980 and the first woman honoured with the Miyake Prize for geochemistry in 1985.<br />
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As a female scientist working more than half a century ago, Saruhashi was deeply committed to inspiring young women to study science, and established the Saruhashi Prize in 1981, recognising female scientists for distinguished research in natural sciences.<br />
<br />
She believed that many women have the ability to become great scientists and wanted to see a day when women could contribute to science and technology on an equal footing with men.<br />
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-Source: News Agency</div>
Vyga News Deskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029540792067918258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4761541243752472066.post-19316116740426635192018-03-20T04:44:00.000-07:002018-03-20T04:44:24.878-07:00This hearing aid will read your brain to help you understand what’s being said<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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One common complaint from people who wear a hearing aid is that, while they can hear speech, they are unable to make out its meaning. That is because, while the two things are related, hearing and understanding aren’t the same thing. A new technique developed by researchers from KU Leuven in Belgium, in collaboration with the University of Maryland, may offer an alternative solution, however.<br />
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They have developed an automatic test involving an EEG brain cap, in which scientists can look at a person’s brainwaves to see not only whether they have heard a particular sound, but whether they have actually understood it. The test involves using 64 electrodes to measure a patient’s brainwaves while they listen to a sentence. Based on the brain waveform response, this can then be used to reveal whether or not a patient understands what has been said to them.<br />
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“Our method is independent of the listener’s state of mind,” Jonas Vanthornhout, one of the researchers on the project, told Digital Trends. “Even if the listener doesn’t pay attention, we can measure speech understanding. We can do this because we directly measure speech understanding from the brain. We reconstruct the speech signals from your brainwaves. When the reconstruction succeeds, this means that you have understood the message. When the reconstruction fails, you didn’t understand the message. Our method will allow for a more accurate diagnosis of patients who cannot actively participate in a speech understanding test because they’re too young, for instance, or because they’re in a coma.”<br />
<br />
At present, this is just a neat tech demo. However, as Vanthornhout suggests, long-term, this be used to create some fascinating consumer-facing products. Imagine, for example, smart hearing aids or cochlear implants which adjust their signal based on how well you are understanding a particular speaker. The technology could also decrease the screening time for hearing loss. In addition, we would be fascinated to see whether this has any application within education, to discover whether learners are understanding the words they hear in class. (Although apparently it can not be used to test a deep understanding of course material.)<br />
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“We are currently mapping the effects of attention on speech understanding,” Vanthornhout continued. “In order to make our method more clinically relevant, we are also validating it in a population of hearing aid users, cochlear implant users, and in multiple age groups. We are also investigating how the different parts of the brain contribute to speech understanding.”<br />
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A paper describing the work was recently published in the Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology.<br />
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-Source: News Agency</div>
Vyga News Deskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029540792067918258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4761541243752472066.post-19945524994875213282018-03-20T04:21:00.001-07:002018-03-20T04:21:49.652-07:00Phonak releases new hearing aids<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
Leading hearing instruments supplier Phonak has announced additions to its rechargeable portfolio of hearing aids. The expansion of its Belong platform includes the release of the Naída B-R RIC and Sky B-PR hearing aids.<br />
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For the first time, the Naída B model comes in a rechargeable Receiver-in-Canal (RIC) option, offering wearers the most feature-rich hearing aid from Phonak. Meanwhile, the Sky B hearing aid for kids now also has a rechargeable option, providing uninterrupted hearing on a single charge.<br />
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Phonak has also announced the debut of Roger MultiBeam Technology (MBT), available in the new Roger Select microphone as well as Roger Table Mic II. This technology uses three microphones to form six directional beams within 360 degrees, helping people to hear better in noisy environments.<br />
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-Source: phonak.com/uk</div>
Vyga News Deskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029540792067918258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4761541243752472066.post-73127681341222952002018-03-20T04:18:00.000-07:002018-03-20T04:18:43.826-07:00Self-driving Uber car kills Arizona woman crossing street <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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TEMPE, Ariz./SAN FRANCISCO: An Uber self-driving car hit and killed a woman crossing the street in Arizona, police said on Monday, marking the first fatality involving an autonomous vehicle and a potential blow to the technology expected to transform transportation.<br />
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The ride services company said it was suspending North American tests of its self-driving vehicles, which are currently going on in Arizona, Pittsburgh and Toronto.<br />
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So-called robot cars, when fully developed by companies including Uber, Alphabet Inc and General Motors Co, are expected to drastically cut down on motor vehicle fatalities and create billion-dollar businesses. But Monday’s accident underscored the possible challenges ahead for the promising technology as the cars confront real-world situations involving real people.<br />
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U.S. lawmakers have been debating legislation that would speed introduction of self-driving cars.<br />
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“This tragic accident underscores why we need to be exceptionally cautious when testing and deploying autonomous vehicle technologies on public roads,” said Democratic Senator Edward Markey, a member of the transportation committee, in a statement.<br />
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Elaine Herzberg, 49, was walking her bicycle outside the crosswalk on a four-lane road in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe about 10 p.m. MST Sunday (0400 GMT Monday) when she was struck by the Uber vehicle traveling at about 40 miles per hour (65 km per hour), police said. The Volvo XC90 SUV was in autonomous mode with an operator behind the wheel.<br />
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Herzberg later died from her injuries in a hospital, police said.<br />
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“The pedestrian was outside of the crosswalk. As soon as she walked into the lane of traffic she was struck,” Tempe Police Sergeant Ronald Elcock told reporters at a news conference. He said he did not yet know how close Herzberg was to the vehicle when she stepped into the lane.<br />
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Elcock said he believed Herzberg may have been homeless.<br />
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<br />
The San Francisco Chronicle late Monday reported that Tempe Police Chief Sylvia Moir said that from viewing videos taken from the vehicle “it’s very clear it would have been difficult to avoid this collision in any kind of mode (autonomous or human-driven) based on how she came from the shadows right into the roadway." (bit.ly/2IADRUF)<br />
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Moir told the Chronicle, “I suspect preliminarily it appears that the Uber would likely not be at fault in this accident,” but she did not rule out that charges could be filed against the operator in the Uber vehicle, the paper reported.<br />
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The “Tempe Police Department does not determine fault in vehicular collisions,” the department said in a statement late Monday, in reply to questions from Reuters about the chief’s comments. “Ultimately the investigation will be submitted to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office for review and any potential charges.”<br />
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Tempe authorities and federal officials are still investigating the incident. Canada’s transportation ministry in Ontario, where Uber conducts testing, also said it was reviewing the accident.<br />
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Volvo, the Swedish car brand owned by China’s Geely, said the software controlling the car in the crash was not its own.<br />
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Video footage will aid the ongoing investigation, and the case would be submitted to the district attorney, Elcock said.<br />
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“Our investigators have that information, and they will be using that in their investigation as well as the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office as part of their investigation,” said Elcock. “They are going to attempt to try to find who was possibly at fault and how we can better be safe, whether it’s pedestrians or whether it’s the vehicle itself.”<br />
<br />
WILD WEST<br />
Uber and Waymo on Friday urged Congress to pass sweeping legislation to speed the introduction of self-driving cars into the United States. Some congressional Democrats have blocked the legislation over safety concerns, and Monday’s fatality could hamper passage of the bill, congressional aides said Monday.<br />
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Safety advocates called for a national moratorium on all robot car testing on public roads.<br />
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“Arizona has been the wild west of robot car testing with virtually no regulations in place,” said Consumer Watchdog, a non-profit consumer advocacy group, in a statement. “That’s why Uber and Waymo test there. When there’s no sheriff in town, people get killed.”<br />
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Arizona has opened its arms to companies testing self-driving vehicles as a means to economic growth and jobs. Republican Governor Doug Ducey reached out to Uber in 2016 after California regulators cracked down on the company over its failure to obtain testing permits.<br />
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Self-driving cars being tested routinely get into fender-benders with other vehicles. Last week, a self-driving Uber crashed with another vehicle in Pittsburgh, local news reported. There were no injuries.<br />
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A year ago, Uber temporarily grounded its self-driving cars for a few days following a crash with another car in Tempe. The company has been the subject of a number of complaints about its autonomous vehicles, but the company has said the cars were being driven by a human driver at the time of the incidents.<br />
<br />
ESSENTIAL TO UBER’S SUCCESS<br />
Uber has said its ability to build autonomous cars is essential to its success in the rapidly changing transportation industry. The company envisions a network of autonomous cars that would be summoned through the Uber app that would supplement - and eventually replace - human-driven cars.<br />
<br />
Uber has logged 2 million self-driving miles (3.2 million km) through December. The company has more than 100 autonomous cars testing on the roads of the greater Phoenix area, the company’s prime testing ground due to the state’s loose regulations and hospitable weather. Rain, snow and ice are particularly challenging for autonomous cars. The company also tests in Pittsburgh and Toronto.<br />
-Source: News Agency</div>
Vyga News Deskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029540792067918258noreply@blogger.com0