The Great And The Glubby

China's new drone company is building a UAV with a 20-ton payload

noreply@blogger.com (Ozymandias) — Mon, 29 Jan 2018 21:19:00 -0800

That's akin to a medium-sized manned cargo plane.

TB-001

This twin-engine, dual-tail MALE (medium altitude, long endurance) attack drone will be able to carry about a ton of payload.

WeChat, via by78

China's drone newcomer Tengoen Technology (also spelled Tengdun) has ambitious plans. The company promises to market armed drones for purchase. It also promises to build the world's biggest cargo drone. That's quite a slate for a company that was only founded in 2016.

SF EXPRESS DELIVERY

In partnership with Tengoen, SF Express Delivery uses a modified TB-001 UCAV to drop cargo pods.

Weibo

The TB-001 Scorpion, Tengoen's flagship vehicle, is a twin-engine, double-tail drone. It has a maximum takeoff weight of 2.8 tons, a range of more than 3,700 miles, and provisions to carry two 220-pound bombs or missiles. Tengoen has also partnered with Chinese delivery company SF Express to build a souped-up TB-001 for cargo delivery, increasing the drone's size to 3.3 tons, with a 1.2-ton payload. In December 2017, the modified TB-011 showed off its capability by para-dropping supplies to a Huawei repair crew fixing a cell tower in the mountainous Yunnan Province.

SUPER CARGO DRONE

Tengoen is already building the first of these 137-foot-wide, 4,660-mile-range cargo drones.

Chinese Internet

In the cargo and delivery space, Tengoen is already at work building an eight-engine drone with a wingspan of more than 137 feet to carry a payload of 20 tons payload up to 4,660 miles. That's akin to a medium-sized manned cargo plane.

The carbon-fiber, double-bodied drone carries the payload module between the two fuselages (looking a bit like a robotic baby brother to the Scaled Composites Stratolaunch). It is being built at Tengoen's facility in Chengdu, and its supposedly taking flight in 2020.

A DRONE FOR ALL SEASONS

The behemoth can be customized for missions like search and rescue, aerial refueling, and intelligence gathering.

Chinese Internet

Tengoen executives were quick to highlight civilian applications for the unmanned aircraft system: space launch, fire fighting, and emergency relief. The drone's large size and modular payload capacity could also take on a variety of military missions, including intelligence gathering and electronic warfare. Its large payload could make it function as an aerial tanker, too, refueling aircraft like search-and-rescue helicopters, patrolling fighters, cargo transports, and bombers.

MASS PRIVATE HELICOPTERS

While the Ehang 184 is quite pricey, Ehang hopes that a mass-production run of its successors would achieve economies of scale, bringing down the price.

Ehang

Tengoen is just one character in a larger story about China's booming unmanned aerospace sector. In fact, it's one of 110 UAV manufacturers in Chengdu alone. Other private Chinese manufacturers like Ehang and DJI have products with dual-use applications, too. As China's multibillion-dollar drone industry grows in size and sophistication, China's private sector aims for a bigger share of both the People's Liberation Army's purchases, not to mention a slice of the wider global market.

Peter Warren Singer is a strategist and senior fellow at the New America Foundation. He has been named by Defense News as one of the 100 most influential people in defense issues. He was also dubbed an official "Mad Scientist" for the U.S. Army's Training and Doctrine Command. Jeffrey is a national security professional in the greater D.C. area.

Your weight affects how long you live—but it's extremely complicated

noreply@blogger.com (Ozymandias) — Mon, 29 Jan 2018 21:17:00 -0800

There's probably no perfect BMI.

By Claire Maldarelli

Body weight can be a good predictor of longevity.

Deposit Photos

Every January, fat's in the crosshairs of health columnists, fitness magazines, and desperate Americans. This year, PopSci looks at the macronutrient beyond its most negative associations. What’s fat good for? How do we get it to go where we want it to? Where does it wander when it’s lost? This, my friends, is Fat Month.

We often think about weight loss in the short term, hoping to drop five pounds in time for vacation or 10 in time for a wedding. Of course, this kind of yo-yo dieting isn’t the greatest for our health. If you're going to ask how much you should weigh, you want to think long term—what weight will keep you healthy?

This question has been at the forefront of researchers’ minds for a while, and for good reason. Global obesity rates are high and steadily increasing, with 1.3 billion adults considered overweight and another 600 million in the weight range categorized as obese.

While it's true that muscle weighs more than fat, most people who are carrying around a few extra pounds are doing so in the form of adipose tissue. Unlike bone and muscle, fat cells can generate inflammation, allowing us to heal infections and protect our bodies from further damage. But having too many fat cells causes our bodies to release inflammatory proteins all the time. Many studies indicate this can increase our risk of developing cancer.

Carrying around extra fat cells also affects other physiological pathways, many of which—high blood pressure, hyperglycemia (persistently high blood glucose levels), and high cholesterol, for example—can lead to potentially fatal heart problems.

We all need some amount of body fat. So how much is too much? Using BMI (body mass index, the body mass divided by the square of the body height) and rates of overall mortality, scientists studying this question initially came to a surprising conclusion: On a population level, the relationship between BMI and mortality formed a U-shaped curve, in which the lowest point (the one where mortality was at its lowest) was actually at a BMI range considered nearly overweight (about 24.5, when 25 is overweight). Bring on all the healthy fats and carbs.

But some scientists—including Andrew Stokes, a chronic disease and global health researcher at Boston University—challenged those conclusions. Instead of a U-shaped curve, his group's follow-up studies saw the risk of mortality increase with higher BMIs. The lowest risk category, he says, is somewhere in the low-normal weight range, and risk increases pretty consistently as BMI goes up.

The earlier studies failed to account for two important factors, according to Stokes. “The normal weight category used in most of the studies combines low-risk, stable weight people with high-risk individuals who have lost weight,” he says. If a study subject spends most of their life obese and then loses weight, they might accumulate years of negative health effects. Not all of those risks disappear with weight loss. “Much of the research on obesity just uses a snapshot of weight currently," says Stokes.

Stokes equates this to the way we study smoking. You can’t simply compare nonsmokers to smokers. Nonsmokers include those who have never smoked as well as those who may have smoked for several decades and then quit.

And smoking itself is another crucial factor in these BMI studies, Stokes says. Smoking can present a huge bias in estimating risks associated with obesity, because the habit affects body weight through metabolic effects and reduced appetite. By failing to take smoking into account, your analysis may include people who have a low body weight but smoke heavily, upping their chance of an early death. Once those outliers are removed, Stokes and his colleagues argue, the relationship between excess body weight and early mortality is clear.

Of course, the range for normal BMI is pretty broad. For example, someone who is 5'4" has a normal BMI if they weigh anywhere from 108 pounds to 145 pounds. If we want to know which sliver of the range is actually best, Stokes says, researchers have a lot more work to do.

And then there's the question of whether BMI is the right metric to use at all. BMI is often criticized as a poor indicator of health. Because muscle weighs more than fat, a weightlifter could have a BMI in the overweight range, and that's to say nothing of all the other variations the human form can take. Even two folks with the same BMI andthe same amount of actual body fat might face different risks due to their adipose, if one carries more in their belly and the other stores more in their hips. Studies that compare BMI to superior methods like the Dexa scan, a type of x-ray that can determine exactly how much body fat you have and where, show that the potential misclassification is not trivial. But Stokes argues that on a population level, BMI is a pretty good parameter to use. Variations in its accuracy do exist, but it's not so wildly off-base as to be useless when we make generalizations about risks throughout an entire population.

But that's the key here: we're talking about average risk. None of this is to say that someone with an ideal BMI is bound to outlive someone who is obese. There are plenty of other factors at play in determining our health, including genetics, exercise, diet, and especially stress. Body weight and the degree of fat we carry often intertwines with these other characteristics, but it's still only one factor. An individual's health can't be determined by a number on a scale, and one should always talk to a doctor when considering major lifestyle changes.

Still, while there’s no scientific consensus on what range of normal BMI equates to lowest overall mortality, Stokes hazards a guess for the lower end, perhaps 20 to 22. He also points out that many studies (on rodents and primates, anyway) show calorie restriction can increase longevity. One population he thinks we should study more are those humans who have always had a very low BMI. Ping-ponging your weight around to try to get on the lowest possible end of the healthy threshold is definitely not a good idea, but living your entire life with a BMI on the lower end—maybe even under 20—could decrease risk of diseases like cancer and diabetes. It's an important question, Stokes says, and one that not enough researchers are asking.

This optical illusion creates a handy fake flashlight

noreply@blogger.com (Ozymandias) — Mon, 29 Jan 2018 21:16:00 -0800

Batteries not required.

By Nicole Wetsman

Illuminating.

Brian Klutch

Roll a magazine—might we recommend Popular Science?—into a tube. Now, keeping both eyes open, look through it with one eye. Compared with the plain view, the tube-filtered scene will seem brighter, as if lit by a flashlight. This makeshift torch will even make textures and patterns pop.

No one has a definitive explanation for this false illumination. Neuroscientists’ best guess is that it has something to do with the way our brain interprets contrast. Within a tubular sight, the circular border appears darker than the environment within it. This triggers something called the brightness enhancement effect, in which your perception of an object’s luminosity changes when you view it alongside something else. In fact, researchers found that the interior view appears nearly twice as bright as what’s outside it.

This trick isn’t just a fun thing to do with Popular Science after you’ve read it cover to cover; it has practical applications too. Radiologists sometimes use the illusion’s power to make out faint yet potentially important details on scans, like a slight bone fracture or a tiny tumor. Even if the light is all in our head, in a pinch, it still works.

Mosquitoes learn not to mess with you when you swat them

noreply@blogger.com (Ozymandias) — Mon, 29 Jan 2018 21:07:00 -0800

And they’ll likely go looking for a less combative meal.

By Mary Beth Griggs

A mosquito glued to an insect pin.

Kiley Riffell

The heat of your body, the vapor of your sweat, the breeze of your breath, and your scent, oh, your scent! The combination is beyond enticing, drawing in a mosquitowith the promise of a quick bite.

[SWAT]

Not today mosquito. Not today.

The jarring vibrations of a slap may be enough to put the mosquito off your alluring aroma, even if your efforts didn’t manage to mash the insect to a bloody pulp.

To test how well these pesky bugs can remember a turbulent experience—and the scent associated with that—researchers put insects through tests involving tiny flight simulators, mini wind tunnels, and the odor of humans, rats, and chickens. Their results, published in this week’s Current Biology, found that mosquitoes were capable of remembering defensive individuals for at least a day, and avoiding them like the plague, (or, in their case, avoiding them like DEET).

The researchers looked at Aedes aegypti aegypti mosquitoes, a species that evolved to like us. Like, like like us.

“The entire mosquito has evolved to identify us and to bite us. They are especially sensitive to temperature, to the water vapor from our sweat, to our body odor, and to the carbon dioxide from our breath, so their entire sensory systems are geared towards locating us,” says Jeffery Riffell, lead author of the paper.

If kept from their preferred food choice, these mosquitoes will make do with bloodfrom cattle or dogs to sustain themselves. But that’s only if they have to. In other experiments, Riffell says, researchers showed that even mosquitoes that only had access to dogs or cattle for most of their adult lives would gravitate back to humans if given the chance.

“Their ability to shift hosts hasn’t lost that innate preference for humans. And so we think learning is causing that shift and that flexibility," Riffell says. He and his colleagues wanted to look into what drove the preferences for hosts, and if mosquitoes might learn to avoid certain humans that proved too challenging.

“We all have our own scent signature—a fingerprint, if you will,” Riffell says. “And this fingerprint is stable, it doesn’t change very much over the course of weeks or months. Mosquitoes, once they are actually biting you, they are smelling you. If you try to move your arm to shake them off or try to swat them, they will feel the vibrations of the swat and learn a negative association between those vibrations and your scent. Given that we each have our own scent fingerprint, we found that they can actually remember certain individuals.”

In other words, the bugs could learn to avoid the scent of a swatty human. They replicated an annoyed human with an experiment baited with thin nylon socks worn by undergrads to get them nice and smelly (to mosquitoes, anyway. The scent was too faint for a human nose.)

“What was interesting about this was the individuals that they remembered the most were the ones that were highly attractive,” Riffell says.

He’s not talking about physical attractiveness. You probably have friends who remind the world of their mosquito-attracting abilities, saying, ’oh, mosquitoes just love me’ constantly during the buggy months of the year. They might not be exaggerating.

Riffell says that in this case, the mosquitoes reacted most strongly to scents they previously used to gravitate toward the most. It makes sense if you think about it. What if you loved donuts, and just as you were about to take a big ‘ol bite out of a chocolate glazed, it suddenly tried to stab you to death?

Now picture if another food tried the same thing. Say, maybe celery. Celery tries to bludgeon you while you’re dutifully snacking on the bitter wet threads masquerading as food. Feels different, right? The donut’s betrayal hurts more, because you really loved that donut, while you always kind of suspected that celery was out to get you.

Mosquitoes feel your pain.

“They avoided certain odors as strongly as if they were experiencing 40-percent DEET,” Riffell says. “They can really remember the odor, and it can cause a high degree of repellency in them.”

The mosquito Thunderdome.

[Kiley Riffell}(https://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/pub/160755.php?from=382394)

Riffell and his colleagues figured this out by gluing live mosquitoes to a thin insect pin that acted like a tether, keeping the bug in place while it tried to fly toward or away from scents. “It's like virtual reality for the mosquitoes. It's a great way to test their behavior and see what they’re learning,” Riffell says.

Once in the flight simulator, the mosquitoes got whiffs of a particular scent—like the ones gathered from the volunteers beforehand—as they were buffeted by turbulent air and vibrations meant to resemble the aftermath of a swat.

“Then we also fly them in these little mini wind tunnels. They have a choice between the previous odor and a clean odor control, so they can choose what direction they want to go,” Riffell says.

Computer software and cameras helped analyze how the mosquitoes would have flown toward or away from scents if they had been free of the pin.

Then they took it one step further. “We can glue them to a holder where they’re tethered in place, but flying, then we can cut this tiny little window in their head and record how the neurons in their olfactory system change as the animal is learning. We can also see how certain chemicals that are involved with memory and learning influence that processing of odor information,” Riffell says.

In mosquito brains, they found, dopamine is critical to the insect’s ability to learn, and helps motivate it to remember positive and negative associations—like being attacked by their food.

The researchers are still doing experiments to expand on this study, and are currently working to isolate which odors among the 300 or so compounds that go into a human scent are particularly alluring to mosquitoes. They're also trying to figure out whether the protection accrued by one swat-happy human might extend to their neighbors, and how long a mosquito's memory of a bad experience lasts. This study tested scent memories after just 24 hours, but mosquitoes live for about a month. So it's possible that they might learn from their experiences for a lot longer than a single day.

“What we’re finding in general is that these mosquitoes evolved to be really effective biters of humans and disease vectors,” Riffell says. “Their learning ability causes this adaptiveness that make them even more effective at sticking around and biting people. It's a difficult control problem in terms of eradicating these guys.”

There isn’t a perfect way to swat at a mosquito to keep it and its companions away from you forever, though the researchers hope that by understanding how mosquitoes choose who to bite, they might be able to cut off their blood supply in the future. In the meantime, if a single mosquito learns to avoid you, it might just pivot to your friend or pet as an alternative dish.

So instead of relying on a stray swing of the hand to save you, think of your friends: don’t miss.

What the heck is the Doomsday Clock, and why did it just tick?

noreply@blogger.com (Ozymandias) — Mon, 29 Jan 2018 21:06:00 -0800

We're two minutes to midnight. Again.

By Rachel Feltman 15 hours ago

Nuclear weapons test in 1952.

U.S. Department of Energy

The Doomsday Clock just ticked 30 seconds, bringing us at an uncomfy two-minutes-to-midnight for the first time since the Cold War. That sounds, well, not great. But what does it all mean?

Is it art, or science?

The Doomsday Clock is neither a meaningless art project nor a precise scientific measurement; it's somewhere in the middle. The graphic was introduced in 1947, when artist Martyl Langsdorf designed a clockface at seven minutes to midnight for the cover of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. At the time, 11:53 p.m. was something of an arbitrary choice, but the idea was to make people think about how much more dangerous life was becoming in the nuclear age. That was rather the point of the Bulletin itself, which was put out by a group of scientists who'd participated in the Manhattan Project.

What happens at midnight?

Calm down, it's a metaphor. No one is saying we're literally 120 seconds from an apocalyptic disaster at any given moment. In fact, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, when the world was arguably perched most precariously on the precipice of nuclear war, that minute hand didn't move a bit. The clock (which, by the way, does not exist physically—you can't go visit it, which would probably be the most existentially distressing long weekend one could plan) is meant to remind us that global catastrophe has been just around the proverbial corner from the moment our species entered its nuclear age. It's not keeping tabs on day-to-day threats.

What makes it tick?

The Doomsday Clock doesn't tick constantly, but instead moves in response to periodic deliberations on the state of humanity. The clock hand's movements used to be determined by just one guy—Eugene Rabinowitch, who edited the Bulletin in its infancy—which seems like an awful lot of responsibility. He used his own scientific expertise and that of fellow researchers to determine whether or not it was time to move the clock forward (or back). Now the Bulletin's Science and Security Board makes the call, along with their Board of Sponsors (which includes 15 Novel Laureates). The group tries to determine whether the world is objectively more or less safe than it was the year before, and pushes the minute hand forward or back accordingly.

While it was designed to broadcast the threat of nuclear proliferation, the clock-setters started to factor in climate change starting in 2007.

How bad is two minutes to midnight?

Well, it's not great.

"The Science and Security Board for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists assesses that the world is not only more dangerous now than it was a year ago; it is as threatening as it has been since World War II. In fact, the Doomsday Clock is as close to midnight today as it was in 1953, when Cold War fears perhaps reached their highest levels," Lawrence Krauss, chair of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Board of Sponsors, and Robert Rosner, chair of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Science and Security Board wrote in an op-ed for The Washington Post. "To call the world nuclear situation dire is to understate the danger—and its immediacy. North Korea’s nuclear weapons program appeared to make remarkable progress in 2017, increasing risks for itself, other countries in the region and the United States."

The group cited the abuse of social media to spread misinformation, "reckless languages in the nuclear realm," and a lack of evidenced-based decision-making on climate and other issues as signs of our planet's dire state.

On the bright side, we were already bumped to 2.5 minutes before midnight in 2017. So, uh, relatively speaking, things haven't gotten that much worse.

Or maybe the experts at the Bulletin are just trying to use small increments so they're not stuck making the totally unprecedented move to one minute to midnight before they're, like, reeeeeeeeally concerned.

'Incredible genes' can only do so much to counteract an unhealthy lifestyle

noreply@blogger.com (Ozymandias) — Mon, 29 Jan 2018 21:01:00 -0800

Your genes are only part of you.

By Claire Maldarelli

Your DNA is only part of who you are.

Pixabay

What defines our health? Scientists know it’s some combination of genes, the environment, and the choices we make. But which one has the most impact? Last week, results of Donald Trump’s annual physical showed that, despite boasting a diet of high-fat, low-fiber foods, our President isn’t in bad health for a 71-year-old. His doctor, Rear Admiral Ronny Jackson, says that’s due to “incredible genes.” How much can your genetic material protect you from unhealthy lifestyle choices?

First, a bit about genes. These units of DNA are passed down from parent to child, and we each have around 25,000 of them. An individual gene doesn't actually make you short or blue-eyed; it simply instructs your body to produce certain proteins at certain times. The combination of those genetic instructions can create physical traits, but health is a little more complicated. There is no gene or set of genes that make a person generally more fit or healthy than the rest of the population.

But genetic variants can certainly make people more or less susceptible to conditions like heart disease and diabetes. One of the major precursors of heart disease is high blood pressure. Lifestyle (what you eat and how much you exercise) can affect your blood pressure, but so can your genes. Studies suggest that the influence of genes on blood pressure varies anywhere from 30 to 70 percent, depending on the individual.

While it’s impossible to know what genes the president has (unless he allows someone to sequence his genome), a genetic variant that helps regulate blood pressure could explain the reported reading of 122/74 at his most recent physical. That’s a decent enough blood pressure at any age, but at 71, it’s a great number. According to the newest guidelines from the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology, 120/80 and under is considered normal. But the target that most cardiologists and primary care doctors aim for at that age is 130/80. The result is especially surprising given the President's diet, which features many foods known to raise blood pressure over time.

Other factors that contribute to heart disease can also be genetic. This includes levels of triglycerides and total cholesterol, as well as both LDL (low-density lipoprotein, what’s considered bad cholesterol) versus HDL (high-density lipoprotein, good cholesterol). High levels of HDL (anything over 60) can be protective against heart disease, but high levels of LDL and total cholesterol are significant risk factors. Over the years, researchers have identified at least a few dozen genes that contribute to high levels of HDL as well as lower levels of LDL and triglycerides. While President Trump had a high HDL number, his total cholesterol and LDL were not ideal.

But what does this all mean? That we are all just a manifestation of our genes? Not at all. There's no person or group of persons walking around with universally superior genes—most of us have some traits where we're given a slight genetic boost, and others where our ancestors haven't done us any favors. The best of our genes are only beneficial if wielded properly, and can be significantly discounted if abused. Someone with a genetic predisposition toward good cardiovascular health is still doing themselves a great disservice by eating an unhealthy diet and failing to exercise regularly. You might have a few genetic quirks that mean you're more likely to have perfect cholesterol levels than the average person, but you'll only achieve your body's best potential if you actually take care of yourself.

Conversely, people whose genes make them much more likely to develop heart disease can significantly reduce that risk with a healthy lifestyle. One review in the New England Journal of Medicine found that patients with a genetic predisposition to heart disease could cut their risk in half by adopting good diet and exercise habits.

Plus, in the past 50 or so years, we've gotten a lot better at creating medications that reduce things like high blood pressure, cholesterol, and triglycerides. These drug discoveries were in huge part thanks to families that had these unfortunate variants. For example, researchers studying familial hypercholesterolemia were able to understand how those mutations work and create drugs to fix the problem, effectively and significantly lowering cholesterol levels not just for people with those rare genes, but for everyone. And there’s a lot we are still figuring out. Recent research on the microbiome (the bacteria that live on and in your gut, that are, in fact, also influenced by a diet, gene, and lifestyle combo) found that certain bacteria, when simply sprayed on the skin to treat acne, may also lower blood pressure.

We also need to study people who have protective genetic variants more rigorously. The Framingham Heart study (a large multi-generational cohort study) found that people with something called Gilbert’s Syndrome, a genetic variant that keeps the liver from processing bilirubin properly, have a lower risk of coronary artery disease. At high levels, bilirubin is a strong antioxidant, which might be one of the factors at play. Perhaps eventually researchers can create a drug that mimics this effect. Now that genetic sequencing is a popular practice among the general public, it’s likely that researchers will turn up even more mutations with the potential to inspire new drugs.

You have a vast number of genes and gene variants. And in all likelihood, some are good and some are bad. Most of them are probably average. The best way to embrace the genes you're stuck with—all of them—is to lead a healthy life full of moderation.

15+ Funny And Unusual Cars

noreply@blogger.com (Ozymandias) — Mon, 29 Jan 2018 20:55:00 -0800

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20+ The Most Unusual Bikes We’ve Ever Seen

noreply@blogger.com (Ozymandias) — Mon, 29 Jan 2018 20:55:00 -0800

Here are more than 20 absolutely impressive and very unusual bikes we have ever seen.

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MBA bride takes a chariot, turns ritual on its head

noreply@blogger.com (Ozymandias) — Mon, 29 Jan 2018 20:53:00 -0800

Gargi Ahlawat has been moving around in a horse carriage for the last three days in different localities of Jh... Read More

JAIPUR: It was a rare sight for the residents of Chirawa town in Jhunjhunu district to see a bride sitting in a horse-carriage and leading a procession to mark the pre-wedding ritual of 'Bandori'.
Gargi Ahlawat, an MBA from UK, has been moving around in a horse carriage for the last three days in different localities of Jhunjhunu, about 150km from here, aiming to bring a change in the mindset of the people by giving out a message that daughters are equal to sons.

Daughter of Jhunjhunu MP, Santosh Ahlawat, Gargi's reversal of popular ritual has received wide acceptance. "People in rural and semi-rural areas can be influenced by action but not by articles in newspapers or TV shows. My mother is campaigning for 'Beti Bacho, Beti Padhao'. This action coming from the daughter of an MP can set an example for others to follow. A woman riding a horse carriage for the ritual is bound to be noticed and followed by other families soon," said Gargi.

The ritual was gracefully accepted by the residents who had come in huge numbers to witness it.

A rarely practiced ritual now, 'Bandori' is slightly different from traditional 'bindoli' which is a popular pre-wedding ritual in North India. "As the bindoli tradition says that relatives invite both the groom and the bride for a feast before the marriage. So the groom has the privilege of riding a horse till their house after the feast. I have changed the ritual by riding a horse till my house or a temple," said Gargi.

She is set to marry Delhi-based Kushal in Udaipur on February 8 followed by a reception in Delhi on February 10. Her mother Santosh Ahlawat says changing the patriarchal mindset is extremely important to eliminate the gender divide in the society. "My district had skewed sex ratio which I fought like a warrior. Things have improved a lot in the last few years as awareness has increased with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's focus on 'Beti Bachao' campaign. I am happy that my daughter has taken the initiative forward," said Ahlawat.

Researchers have developed a marking system to clamp down on all types of piracy in manufacturing

noreply@blogger.com (Ozymandias) — Mon, 29 Jan 2018 20:51:00 -0800

Researchers have developed a new marking system for combating the menace of counterfeit goods including pirated pharmaceuticals, foodstuff, designer merchandise and artwork.

This system is "the safest in the world" when it comes to clamping down on all types of pirate manufacturing, according to head of the researcher Thomas Just Sorensen, Associate Professor at University of Copenhagen in Denmark.

"The system, which deploys three rare earths among other things, is based on randomness, which makes it unable to be hacked or tampered with," Sorensen said.

The system, detailed in the journal Science Advances, could be on the market in a year, according to the researchers.

The University of Copenhagen has taken out a patent on the marking system and researchers are currently fine-tuning scanning solutions to ready the system for manufacturers.

"We estimate that it will take approximately one year, at which point we will be very close to being able to put a commercial version on the market," Sorensen said.

Researchers estimate that the cost of marking products will be modest, probably not much more than one Danish krone (around Rs 11).

How does the system work?

The system that deploys three rare earths — europium, terbium and dysprosium — among other things, randomly generates a fingerprint for a product.

When, for example, a luxury watch retailer receives an inquiry from a customer who would like to know whether a used watch that they are interested in is genuine or not, the watch fingerprint is scanned.

The scanned image is compared with the watch manufacturer's database and if there is not a 100 percent match, the merchandise can be termed counterfeit.

"As soon as a customer asks that an authorised dealer checks up on a piece of merchandise that was meant to be marked using the system, an expensive wrist watch for example, the dealer can access a manufacturer database to check its authenticity," Sorensen said.

"The probability of two products having the same 'fingerprints' — the same digital key — is so minuscule, that in practice, it can only be described as non-existent," Sorensen added.

A rare lunar trilogy to occur on 31 January; to witness Supermoon, Blue moon, lunar eclipse

noreply@blogger.com (Ozymandias) — Mon, 29 Jan 2018 20:47:00 -0800

Where to See the Eclipse

Detailed eclipse path map

Eclipse Map and Animation : https://c.tadst.com/gfx/eclipses2/20180131/anim2d-380.mp4

Entire eclipse visible from start to end.

Entire partial and total phases visible. Misses part of penumbral phase.

Entire total phase visible. Misses part of partial & penumbral phases.

Some of the total phase visible. Misses part of total, partial & penumbral phases.

Some of the partial phase visible. Misses total phase and part of partial & penumbral phases.

Some of the penumbral phase visible. Misses total & partial phases.

Eclipse not visible at all.

Note: Areas with lighter shadings left (West) of the center will experience the eclipse after moonrise/sunset. Areas with lighter shadings right (East) of the center will experience the eclipse until moonset/sunrise. Actual eclipse visibility depends on weather conditions and line of sight to the Moon.

Super Blue Blood Moon Eclipse

Total lunar eclipses are also sometimes called Blood Moons because of the reddish-orange glow the Moon takes on during the eclipse.

In some parts of the world, the eclipsed Full Moon will be a Blue Moon. It is also almost a Supermoon, prompting many to call this eclipse a Super Blue Blood Moon eclipse.

Taking pictures? Share them with us!

When the Eclipse Happens Worldwide — Timeline

Lunar eclipses can be visible from everywhere on the night side of the Earth, if the sky is clear. From some places, the entire eclipse will be visible, while in other areas the Moon will rise or set during the eclipse.

Event	UTC Time	Time in Mumbai*	Visible in Mumbai
Penumbral Eclipse begins	31 Jan, 10:51:13	31 Jan, 16:21:13	No, below the horizon
Partial Eclipse begins	31 Jan, 11:48:27	31 Jan, 17:18:27	No, below the horizon
Full Eclipse begins	31 Jan, 12:51:47	31 Jan, 18:21:47	No, below the horizon
Maximum Eclipse	31 Jan, 13:29:51	31 Jan, 18:59:51	Yes
Full Eclipse ends	31 Jan, 14:07:51	31 Jan, 19:37:51	Yes
Partial Eclipse ends	31 Jan, 15:11:11	31 Jan, 20:41:11	Yes
Penumbral Eclipse ends	31 Jan, 16:08:29	31 Jan, 21:38:29	Yes

* The Moon is below the horizon in Mumbai some of the time, so that part of the eclipse is not visible.

The times displayed are accurate within 2-3 seconds.

The magnitude of the eclipse is 1.316.

The penumbral magnitude of the eclipse is 2.294.

The total duration of the eclipse is 5 hours, 17 minutes.

The total duration of the partial phases is 2 hours, 7 minutes.

The duration of the full eclipse is 1 hour, 16 minutes.

Tests Show Ease of Hacking ECDIS, Radar and Machinery

noreply@blogger.com (Ozymandias) — Mon, 8 Jan 2018 19:58:00 -0800

By MarEx 2017-12-21 18:11:14

Security company Naval Dome has demonstrated what it says is the maritime industry’s nightmare security scenario with a series of cyber penetration tests on systems in common use on board tankers, container ships, super yachts and cruise ships.

The tests demonstrated the ease with which hackers can access and over-ride ship critical systems.

With the permission and under the supervision of system manufacturers and owners, Naval Dome’s cyber engineering team hacked into live, in-operation systems used to control a ships’ navigation, radar, engines, pumps and machinery.

While the test ships and their systems were not in any danger, Naval Dome was able to shift the vessel’s reported position and mislead the radar display. Another attack resulted in machinery being disabled, signals to fuel and ballast pumps being over-ridden and steering gear controls manipulated.

Commenting on the first wave of penetration tests, on the ship’s Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS), Asaf Shefi, Naval Dome's CTO, the former Head of the Israeli Naval C4I and Cyber Defense Unit, said: "We succeed in penetrating the system simply by sending an email to the Captain's computer.

“We designed the attack to alter the vessel’s position at a critical point during an intended voyage - during night-time passage through a narrow canal.. During the attack, the system's display looked normal, but it was deceiving the Officer of the Watch. The actual situation was completely different to the one on screen. If the vessel had been operational, it would have almost certainly run aground.”

According to Shefi, the Naval Dome hack was able to alter draft/water depth details in line with the spurious position data displayed on screen.

“The vessel's crucial parameters - position, heading, depth and speed - were manipulated in a way that the navigation picture made sense and did not arouse suspicion,” he said. "This type of attack can easily penetrate the antivirus and firewalls typically used in the maritime sector.”

Shefi said: "The Captain's computer is regularly connected to the internet through a satellite link, which is used for chart updates and for general logistic updates. Our attacking file was transferred to the ECDIS in the first chart update. The penetration route was not too complicated: the attacking file identified the Disk-On-Key use for update and installed itself. So once the officer had updated the ECDIS, our attack file immediately installed itself on to the system.”

In a second attack, the test ship’s radar was hit. While the radar is widely considered an impregnable, standalone system, Naval Dome's team used the local Ethernet Switch Interface - which connects the radar to the ECDIS, Bridge Alert System and Voyage Data Recorder – to hack the system.

"We succeeded in eliminating radar targets, simply deleting them from the screen,” said Shefi. “At the same time, the system display showed that the radar was working perfectly, including detection thresholds, which were presented on the radar as perfectly normal.”

A third controlled attack was performed on the Machinery Control System (MCS). In this case, Naval Dome's team chose to penetrate the system using an infected USB stick placed in an inlet/socket.

"Once we connected to the vessel's MCS, the virus file ran itself and started to change the functionality of auxiliary systems. The first target was the ballast system and the effects were startling. The display was presented as perfectly normal, while the valves and pumps were disrupted and stopped working. We could have misled all the auxiliary systems controlled by the MCS, including air-conditioning, generators, fuel systems and more.”

Naval Dome says that viruses infecting ship systems can be unwittingly transferred by system manufacturers. “As manufacturers themselves can be targeted, when they take control of onboard computers to carry out diagnostics or perform software upgrades, they can inadvertently open the gate to a cyber attack and infect other PC-based systems on board the ship.”

In the lead-up to the battle of Bhima-Koregaon...

noreply@blogger.com (Ozymandias) — Mon, 8 Jan 2018 19:44:00 -0800

Karthik Venkatesh

JANUARY 8, 2018, 20:53IST

The present-day unrest around a historical commemoration is a different phenomenon to the event that set it off in the 19th Century, but flows along the same lines of caste and politics that pervade Indian society.

By the time Balaji Baji Rao rose to power in the Maratha empire, the seat of Chhatrapati had been reduced to a sinecure under the British. | Wikipedia

Recent events in Maharashtra following the commemoration of a historic battle on January 1 have perplexed many. The context of the celebrations by Dalit organisations is unknown to most people and, therefore, the violent events that followed in the wake of the commemoration have been misread as ‘needless provocation’.

Understanding the historical context of the original battle and the reasons for its commemoration might be one way to develop a holistic understanding of the situation, courtesy Dr. Stewart Gordon’s definitive Marathas 1600-1818.

Maratha rule post-Shivaji

After the death of Chhatrapati Shivaji in 1680, the Maratha kingdom struggled to hold its own against the Mughals. Shivaji’s sons, Sambhaji and Rajaram (both half-brothers) who came to the throne one after the other met with limited success in holding on to the kingdom that Shivaji had fashioned in western Maharashtra. Sambhaji was killed by the Mughals in 1689 and Sambhaji’s son Shahu was a prisoner in the Mughal camps of Malwa for almost eighteen years before his release in 1708. Succession battles between Tarabai, Rajaram’s widow who attempted to foist her son, Shivaji II on the throne after Rajaram’s death in 1700 and Shahu, who wanted to ascend the throne himself, also queered the Maratha pitch. Even though Shahu did ascend the throne in 1708, from 1713 onwards, it was the Peshwa, Balaji Vishwanath who came to hold the reins of power.

Till 1761, when the Maratha defeat at the hands of the Afghan marauder, Ahmad Shah Abdali, in the Third Battle of Panipat tempered Maratha power to an extent, Balaji Vishwanath, a Chitpavan Brahmin by caste and the Peshwas (his son and grandson) who followed him — Bajirao (1720 – 1740) and Balaji Baji Rao (1740 – 1761) — exercised power on the Chattrapati’s behalf. The Chhatrapatis who followed Shahu were reduced to being nominal heads and retired to Satara while the Peshwas held fort at Pune which came to be the real centre of power. The Peshwas were assisted in their military endeavours by various Maratha chiefs — Holkar, Scindia (Shinde), Gaekwad and Bhonsle — who led roving bands of soldiers that aided the Peshwa army.

After the 1818 battle, Maratha power, which was anyway on its last legs, was effectively finished. And, ironically, Mahars were involved in its final battle.

After the 1761 defeat, Maratha power did recover, at least to the extent that the Marathas were able to hold Delhi for close to two decades from around 1770 to 1790, but the office of the Peshwa became a hugely contested one especially after the death of Madhav Rao in 1773. With multiple claimants from the same family and politically motivated murders of contenders, the Peshwa became a shifty and crafty entity who was forever seeking alliances to strengthen and safeguard his position rather than be a leader of consequence. Nana Phadnavis, a minor official initially and a 1761 veteran, became a figure of such influence post the death of Madhav Rao that the Peshwa, Madhav Rao II committed suicide in 1795, rendered helpless by Phandnavis’s maneuverings. Between 1795 and 1800, when Phadnavis died, the Maratha confederacy almost came apart. Both Scindia and Holkar strove to widen their scope of influence and were no longer beholden to the Peshwa as before. The Peshwas who followed Madhav Rao II were increasingly dependent on someone or other to hold on to their post.

Even as Maratha power waxed and waned over the second half of the eighteenth century, the British were increasingly becoming a force to contend with in the Deccan and southern India. Post the death of Tipu Sultan in 1799, the British established themselves as the paramount power. The Subsidiary Alliance instituted by Lord Wellesley in 1798 offered Indian princely states the protection of the East India Company in return for a tribute. With the Peshwa increasingly dependent on Scindia or Holkar, it was clear that Maratha power was on the wane. In 1802, when the forces of the Peshwa and Scindia were defeated by Holkar, the Peshwa fled to the British territory of Bassein and submitted to the Subsidiary Alliance. Effectively, the Peshwa’s power ceased as a result of this and he became a figure of very limited influence. This state of affairs continued till 1817 when the British attempted to foist yet another treaty on the Peshwa, effectively finishing off even the limited influence that he had.

This new treaty formally sought to end the Peshwa's titular overlordship over other Maratha chiefs. Stung, the Peshwa put together an army, burnt down the British Residency at Pune in an attempt to assert his importance, but was defeated in the Battle of Khadki near Pune on November 5, 1817. The Peshwa then fled to Satara, and the Company forces took complete control of Pune. Towards the end of December, the British received news that the Peshwa intended to attack Pune, and asked the Company troops stationed at Shirur for help. The troops dispatched from Shirur then came across the Peshwa forces en route to Pune, resulting in the Battle of Bhima-Koregaon on January 1, 1818. The Peshwa had the larger force (the numbers are disputed, but were between 20,000 and 25,000). The Company Army was admittedly much smaller (about 900 soldiers, including Mahars, Marathas, Rajputs, Muslims, and Jews), but the battle was decisively won by Company forces. The dead Company soldiers of Indian origin included 22 Mahars, 16 Marathas, 8 Rajputs, 2 Muslims, and 2 Jews. Maratha power (effectively Brahmin power embodied in the Peshwa), which was anyway on its last legs, was now effectively finished. And, ironically, Mahars were involved in its final battle.

Mahar identity

Some historical work connects Mahars to the Nagas in the ancient period and it is believed that they had small kingdoms in the southern part of the sub-continent. Medieval accounts, however, suggest that Mahars were outside the pale of the caste system and consequently stigmatised. The Bhakti movement in Maharashtra attempted to alleviate their conditions somewhat, but with limited success. The verses of Chokhamela (himself a Mahar) talk of his ill-treatment in society. The discrimination continued under the rule of Shivaji and degenerated during Peshwa rule. Peshwa rule exacerbated Mahar ill-treatment to the extent that even punishments in the justice system were made caste-based. It is also reported that Balaji Baji Rao also spurned Mahar offers to serve in the Peshwa army, something that had been the practice under Shivaji.

The rise of British power saw Mahars being employed by the British in various capacities, including as soldiers in the army. It was no surprise therefore that the battle of Bhima-Koregaon saw Mahars on the British side fighting against the Peshwas. The victory pillar erected at the site of the battle became a symbol of Mahar pride. Subsequently, in the 19th Century, Jyotirao Phule’s work went a long way in restoring a strong sense of identity to Maharashtra’s Dalits, something that continued under Ambedkar.

On January 1, 1927, Ambedkar visited the site along with Mahar soldiers and veterans of the British-Indian army. Since then, functions have been held at the site on a regular basis. 2018 was the 200th anniversary of the battle. The commemorations were organised on a larger scale than previously. It was seen an occasion for solidarity, for regrouping and for Dalit assertion.

The violence that has followed once again highlights the deep-rooted hold of caste on the Indian psyche, something that the dominant narrative seeks to deny in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

Landmark: A simple phone attachment can now solve a critical problem for Indian farmers

noreply@blogger.com (Ozymandias) — Mon, 8 Jan 2018 19:17:00 -0800

Pranbihanga Borpuzari

, ET Online|

Updated: Jan 04, 2018

Name of the Company: Farmss
Name of Founder(s): Mayur Tambe and Shraddha M Bagwe
City: Nashik
Revenues: NA
Headcount: 3
Industry: Agriculture

Despite the advances in technology, the agrarian sector of the country seems to have been completely bypassed on the road to modernization and automation. Green shoots of change are, however, now visible.

Ask any farmer, and he would unequivocally state that the soil is the most important asset to carry out any form of cultivation. The fertility of the soil and the amount of essential

nutrients he needs to add, plays the biggest part in what he is finally able to produce. This is where understanding the condition of the soil becomes very important for the farmer.

Currently, soil tests are done in a laboratory setup in India, which faces a lot of problems in terms of lack of adequate quality infrastructure and skill sets. Farmers often fail to receive the results on time, and even if they do, there is a high chance of the result being fudged.

In the end, farmers end up making approximate decisions on the condition of their soil. "Our attempt is to provide a new way for these farmers on how soil testing service can be availed near field while also getting reliable results," says Shraddha M Bagwe, co-founder, Farmss.

To get around this problem, Farmss is building a mobile based near-field soil testing and fertilizer recommendation platform for small and marginal farmers to enable informed decisions about fertilizer usage. A compact solution to provide quick, but reliable soil testing service that can be taken around anywhere in the country, with the help of village level entrepreneurs, is what the startup wants to achieve.

"We believe the last person in the value chain i.e. the village level entrepreneur, is the most important person in the whole implementation and therefore our product's four key attributes are - easy to reach/scale, easy to use, accurate and reliable, low cost," says Bagwe, 23.

Soil Mechanics
The solution that Bagwe and her co-founder Mayur Tambe have come up is simple for the farmer to follow and consists of three parts. The first part involves sample collection where a person on-field collects the soil sample in a bag and tags the bag. The information of the farmer, such as name, geo location, land area and crop is recorded in a mobile application.

The sample then needs to be taken to the village of the Farmer Producers Organization (FPO) where tests can be run using Farmss kit, which consists of a chemical colorimetric kit that extracts the nutrient from the soil and develops a colored complex. The intensity of solution coloration is a measure of the nutrient concentration. The Farmss mobile based color detection system that consists of a phone and an add-on considers the solution as an input and reads the color to give a quantitative nutrient concentration value.

"The existing colorimetric kits are not practically used in the field as the color detection by the human eye is very difficult and due to interference of natural light. This gap is addressed by Farmss mobile based color detection system to get appropriate quantitative concentration value," says Bagwe.

Lastly, based on the nutrient concentration, the same testing app further calculates the appropriate fertilizer recommendation for a specific farmer. The testing app is linked to the sample collection application, which provides the farmer necessary information to calculate the fertilizer needed. This report can also be sent electronically sent to the farmer's phone. The nutrient status and fertilizer recommendation report helps the farmer make informed decisions and ensure optimum fertilizer usage

Farmss Soil testing process.

Getting the mix right Tambe and Bagwe met at a workshop organized by Digital Impact Square, a social innovation center and an initiative by TCS Foundation in Nashik. Shared interest to do something innovative around agriculture meant that the duo ended up collaborating for what was to be innovators working on a "challenge" for a period of six months.

"The complexity of the challenge inspired us to find a solution. Throughout the first six months we validated the problem statement in the field, attempted a couple of solutions, failed and reattempted. At the end of six months we had version one of our solution prototype which was reviewed by DISQ panel and we were given a go ahead for our further journey," says Bagwe.

But the end of six months proved to be a tipping point for both the co-founders. "We had other plans in place, but we knew we could not stop what we had started to work on. This was fading as an internship and becoming more of our own venture. We knew addressing this challenge was as much socially impactful as it was a sustainable business idea. We saw that as a perfect social business opportunity and decided to pursue it. I took a year off from Welingkar Institute, where I was doing my PGDM and then the two of us were completely dedicated to Farmss," says Bagwe.

Impact
For small and marginal farmers who are 80% of the total (about 110 million), saving on the nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) or NPK fertilizers can also add a lot of value to decrease their cost of production. The wide ratio of one soil testing lab for 2.09 lakh farmers in India (with the capacity of a lab being being 3000 samples per year) and the lack of skilled lab personnel puts a question mark on the quality and reliability of lab results leave alone the timeliness of the same.

Co-founders Mayur Tambe and Shraddha M Bagwe.
According to the Census of India 2011, District Census Handbook Nashik, almost 60% of the farmers (about 5 lakh) are such, who want to do the soil testing, but cannot, and have ended up taking approximate decisions.

"We want to impact the lives of these small and marginal farmers and bring them the scientific way of making decisions while creating awareness among those who were till now not able to experience the benefits of soil testing due to lack of facilities," says Bagwe.

The service would essentially be charged on a per test basis, which would be somewhere ranging between Rs. 50-100 for five parameters (NPK, pH, EC) and recommendation. "We are currently in the development and calibration stage, where we calibrate the results against a standard certified laboratory and we look forward to starting our pilot tests early this year," says Bagwe.

The young co-founders initially used their stipend to fund the project, but have found support from the ecosystem along the way. For instance, the National Agro Foundation (Tamil Nadu) has come on board as the research partner for this project. "They also have an NABL certified soil testing lab in Chennai and supported us with the lab research and testing, which means we did not have to bear that cost. Currently we are also working with another lab in Nashik which is supporting us by providing their already tested samples and results, which we recheck to validate our solution. This is how we have managed to lower our research expense by finding like-minded people and people who believe in our vision," says Bagwe.

Sahyadri Farms with over more than 8000 marginal farmers, on the other hand, being a Farmer's Producer Company is also helping the startup implement and validate the model with the farmers associated with the farmers associated with them.

Kids in Erode hamlets leave for school at 5am, return at 10pm

noreply@blogger.com (Ozymandias) — Mon, 8 Jan 2018 19:16:00 -0800

V Senthil Kumaran| TNN | Updated: Jan 4, 2018,

At least 18 girls and 14 boys of Gundri region in Erode take the long ride to school every day.

GUNDRI (ERODE DISTRICT): If you are worried the school regimen is stressing your child, digest this: children from 26 hamlets surrounding Gundri in Erode district start for school every day around 5am and get back home at 10pm. The only bus that takes them to their school at Kadambur, 19km away, arrives at Gundri at 5.30am. If they miss the bus, it means an arduous trek through the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve to attend school for the day.
When reports about the children's punishing routine first trickled in, the rest of the world found it too incredulous to be true. Certainly not in this age, was the unanimous verdict. This correspondent set out for the village along with a photographer to ascertain the facts. They travelled with the children in the bus to school and back and found that life was indeed tough for people in the region.

When TOI brought the issue to the knowledge of state school education minister Sengottaiyan, he said he will order the transport officials to operate a mini-van specifically for school students. "I will convene a meeting with transport officials once I go to Erode district," he said.

More than 5,000 people live at Gundri and its surrounding 26 hamlets. Agriculture is their main source of livelihood.

It was in 1910, that the diocese of Roman Catholics started a primary school at Gundri. In 1975, the school became a government-aided one and it was upgraded as upper primary school. When student enrolment increased, the diocese started a high school (up to Class X) under the self-finance category.

Everyday nightmare: A three-hour wait for the ride back home

A total of 32 students, 18 of them girls, travel from 26 hamlets in the Gundri region to the Kadambur Government Higher Secondary School. These comprise Class XI and XII students besides those who are not able to afford fees at the Gundri school. Eighteen students, including seven girls, from the region are pursuing higher education at the Government Arts and Science College in Sathyamangalam, about 54 km from Gundri.

Sengottaiyan told TOI that steps would be taken to upgrade the high school at Gundri as higher secondary school in the next academic year. "Meanwhile, I will ask the educational officials to inspect the possibility for upgradation," he said.

K Akalya, a Class XII student who lives at Mahalithotti, 3km from Gundri, says she wakes up at 4.30 am every day to catch the bus. "I'm forced to skip school if I miss the bus," she laments.

M Priya, a second year B Com student at the Government Arts and Science College in Sathyamangalam, says she did her schooling in Coimbatore when her father worked there. After they shifted to Kovilur, near Gundri, she commutes to college and back daily. "I have to wait for three hours for the bus to get back home as my classes get over at 4pm," she says.

The schoolchildren too face this problem when they have examinations. "Our exams get over at 1pm, but we have to wait till 8.30pm to catch the bus at Kadambur, said S Parimala, a Class XI student.

It's equally hard on parents. Mothers are up at 3am to prepare breakfast and lunch for the children. "I go to sleep at 11pm after serving dinner to my daughter and get up at 3 am to prepare food for her," said C Lakshmi.

Close-knit communities in villages are a saving grace. People often lend a hand to students who miss the bus. Siddesh, a Class XI student from Kariyagoundanpayil hamlet, and M Manikandan from Mahalithotti of the same class were late for the bus. A local villager on way to work picked up the duo in his bike and dropped them in their school.

The Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation, attached to the Coimbatore division, operates just one bus service from Sathyamangalam to Gundri. The 54-km journey takes three hours as a 44-km stretch is part of the ghat road that passes through STR. The bus has 38 stops, including Gundri. Though the distance between Mahalithotti and Kadambur is 19 km, it takes 2 hours and 30 minutes.

TNSTC sources said the average daily collection for the service is Rs8,000. "The collection could double if the TNSTC operates additional services," said G V Ravichandran, former panchayat president.

Erode collector S Prabhakaran told TOI that he had received a petition from the villagers for additional bus services and to change the bus timings. "I already have instructed the transport officials to check the feasibility for bus timings convenient to school and college students," he said.

When contacted by TOI, Erode district Chief Educational Officer (CEO) R Balamurali said he was aware of the difficulties the villagers faced in commuting. "I have sent a letter to the transport officials to alter the bus timings to suit school students," he said. He hoped that they would change the timings at the earliest.

School Education Secretary Pradeep Yadav told TOI that he would check with the Erode district educational authorities and transport officials about the problems the villagers were facing. He ruled out any violation of the Right To Education Act. "RTE is applicable only up to Class VIII," he said, adding that he would ask Erode district education officials to check the possibility of upgrading nearby government schools to help the higher secondary students.

View: The culture of freebies must give way to the use of technologies in farm

noreply@blogger.com (Ozymandias) — Mon, 8 Jan 2018 19:04:00 -0800

By Neeraj Kaushal

Politicians in India firmly believe that the woes of farmers can be solved with freebies: free electricity, free water, farm loan waivers, fertilisers and seed subsidies, minimum support prices, etc. Little attention is paid to what really ails Indian agriculture: low productivity. From rice to wheat to coarse grains and pulses, from cash crops to food crops, Indian agriculture is punctured with very low productivity.

Let's start with rice. India's rice cultivation area is the highest in the world. It is also the world's second-largest producer of rice. Given these glowing statistics, outsiders may assume that India must surely have certain special advantages in growing rice that other countries do not — that we must have figured out the most productive technology of cultivating rice and other countries should replicate our model.

Rice and Shine
Alas, they would be wrong in their assumptions. Rice guzzles water and India is a water-scarce country. States that devote large proportions of land to paddy cultivation have dangerously low water tables. India has one of the lowest productivity of rice in the world. In short, India has no special advantage in growing rice, and other countries should be advised to stay away from the India model.

China produces roughly a third more rice than India but uses about two-thirds of India's land area. Consequently, China's rice productivity is close to 7 tonnes per hectare versus India's 4. Australia's is 10 tonnes per hectare, followed by Egypt and the US with 8.5.

This raises the question: why, despite low productivity and water shortages, are Indian farmers more likely to grow rice than farmers elsewhere in the world? The answer is market distortions in the form of free water, free electricity and minimum support prices that make it profitable for farmers in many parts of India to cultivate rice.

The story of low productivity in Indian agriculture goes beyond rice. Consider wheat. India's average yield is 3 tonnes per hectare versus China's 5. Namibia and Zambia get 7 tonnes per hectare, New Zealand 8, and the EU countries average 6 tonnes. The same goes for most other crops.

Not only do we use more land but we also use more water, to produce less. A 2010 report (The Green, Blue and Grey Water Footprint of Rice From Both a Production and Consumption Perspective, goo.gl/4tCSGZ) by Unesco-IHE Institute for Water Education (now, IHE Deft Institute for Water Education) has computed water footprint of rice production: the ratio of total volume of water used to quantity produced. It is 2,020 cu m per tonne in India, 970 in China, and the global average is 1,325.

The good news is that it is possible to increase crop productivity, save water use and reduce fertiliser consumption at the same time. Many studies conducted in several states of India provide evidence for this optimism. A2014 National Mission on Micro Irrigation (NMMI) impact evaluation study (goo.gl/LjupbK) in 13 states found that use of micro-irrigation technologies lowered electricity consumption 31% and fertiliser consumption about 28%, and increased average productivity of fruit 42% and of vegetables 52%.

Another study showed a 45% increase in the yield of wheat, a 20% increase in the yield of gram and a 40% increase in the yield of soybean for farmers adopting micro-irrigation, at the same time increasing water efficiency and lowering fertiliser use. Clearly, modern methods of irrigation — drip irrigation and sprinkler irrigation — have many advantages over conventional methods. Yet, the area under micro-irrigation is tiny. Only about 5.7% of the total irrigated area is under micro-irrigation (2.8% under drip irrigation and 2.9% under sprinkler irrigation).

Water, Water, Nowhere
Among the many reasons why farmers have not adopted new modes of irrigation are lack of initial capital for installing these devices and limited knowledge about micro-irrigation schemes. There is substantial subsidy for drip irrigation and sprinklers as well, but clearly not good enough because of upfront costs, delays in subsidy disbursement and, most of all, free water. When water is free, farmers have little incentive make investments to conserve it.

The point is the policy focus of Indian agriculture needs to shift. Instead of promising free water, which cannot last forever, GoI needs to ensure that farmers use modern technologies that minimise water use. Instead of giving fertiliser subsidies, of which only a third reach the intended beneficiaries, it needs to introduce, educate and incentivise farmers of the use of technologies that optimise fertiliser use and minimise cost. Instead of asking for loan waivers, farmers and their organisations should shift to technologies that result in efficient use of these loans.

The weakest link is farm extension —educating and facilitating farmers to use scientific research to increase yield. The traditional model was that of public extension services. That has not quite worked. Consider the gap in yields of major crops between Punjab, Haryana and other states, especially Bihar.

New models of farm extension via participation of agribusiness companies, NGOs, producer organisations and farmer-to-farmer exchanges across states should grow. The freebies have cost Indian agriculture dearly and deprived farmers of modernisation and economic security. They should reject the political system that creates these freebies and opt for modernising agriculture.

The writer is professor, social policy, Columbia University, US

shared in the interest of red ribbon....

noreply@blogger.com (Ozymandias) — Mon, 8 Jan 2018 18:38:00 -0800

This really is a greatstory!

Lucky Dog....

Anyone who has pets will really like this. You'll like it even if you don't and you may even decide you need one!

Mary and her husband Jim had a dog named 'Lucky.' Lucky was a real character.
Whenever Mary and Jim had company come for a weekend visit they would warn their friends to not leave their luggage open because Lucky would help himself to whatever struck his fancy. Inevitably, someone would forget and something would come up missing.

Mary or Jim would go to Lucky's toy box in the basement and there the treasure would be, amid all of Lucky's other favorite toys. Lucky always stashed his finds in his toy box and he was very particular that his toys stay in the box.

It happened that Mary found out she had breast cancer. Something told her she was going to die of this disease......in fact; she was just sure it was fatal.

She scheduled the double mastectomy, fear riding her shoulders. The night before she was to go to the hospital she cuddled with Lucky. A thought struck her....what would happen to Lucky? Although the three-year-old dog liked Jim , he was Mary 's dog through and through.

If I die, Lucky will be abandoned, Mary thought. He won't understand that I didn't want to leave him! The thought made her sadder than thinking of her own death.

The double mastectomy was harder on Mary than her doctors had anticipated and Mary was hospitalized for over two weeks. Jim took Lucky for his evening walk faithfully, but the little dog just drooped, whining and miserable.

Finally the day came for Mary to leave the hospital. When she arrived home, Mary was so exhausted she couldn't even make it up the steps to her bedroom. Jim made his wife comfortable on the couch and left her to nap.

Lucky stood watching Mary but he didn't come to her when she called. It made Mary sad but sleep soon overcame her and she dozed.

When Mary woke for a second she couldn't understand what was wrong. She couldn't move her head and her body felt heavy and hot. But panic soon gave way to laughter when Mary realized the problem. She was covered, literally blanketed, with every treasure Lucky owned!

While she had slept, the sorrowing dog had made trip after trip to the basement bringing his beloved mistress all his favorite things in life.

He had covered her with his love.

Mary forgot about dying. Instead she and Lucky began living again, walking further and further together every day. It's been 12 years now and Mary is still cancer-free. Lucky. He still steals treasures and stashes them in his toy box but Mary remains his greatest treasure.

Remember.....live every day to the fullest. And never forget....the people who make a difference in our lives are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones that care for us.

9 Defense Mechanisms That Make You Deny Your Feelings!

noreply@blogger.com (Ozymandias) — Mon, 8 Jan 2018 18:36:00 -0800

Most of the human brain's defense mechanisms operate outside of our conscious awareness, and that's because they're designed to protect us from various factors that might damage our brain function. Psychodynamic theory (Sigmund Freud et al.), states that these defenses are a way of distancing ourselves from acknowledging unpleasant thoughts, feelings, and behaviors as we go through our lives.

The thing is that mental strength and balance diminishes the brain's necessity for using them. A mentally strong person will not feel the need to hide behind the brain’s defenses, and moreover, knows how to deal with the unpleasant truths found within. Here are nine brain defense mechanisms to be aware of, and ask yourself whether you're relying on them to deal with problems, rather than facing them head-on:

1. Denial

This is the simplest defense mechanism to explain. If a given situation is too difficult for a person to deal with, they will deny and ignore it. Psychologists argue that this is our most primitive defense mechanism, and its roots are in our childhood when we would block our ears to avoid hearing unpleasant things. As children, we would think that as long as we’re not aware of something, it doesn’t exist. As adults, we learn that it doesn’t really work that way, but the denial mechanism still exists within us. Many people who deal with problems use denial, such as an alcoholic denying the fact that his excessive drinking destroys his relationships, or a smoker refusing to believe that smoking harms his health.

2. Repression

This a defense mechanism that prevents the brain from being able to consciously access thoughts, memories, feelings or impulses that interfere with staying calm. These are usually thoughts that cause a person to feel guilty or something that has hurt them physically or mentally.

The mind keeps these thoughts in the unconscious area to protect itself from harm. However, repression limits the brain's available energy for creative and constructive behavior, and may even be a basis for mental illness.

3. Projection

The well-known saying “the hunchback sees only his companion’s hump” alludes to this defense mechanism. Projection is a situation where a person projects their emotions on someone else, thereby ignoring the fact that they are really their own. Usually, these are aggressive or sexual thoughts that a person can’t accept that they have come from themselves. For example, a husband may think that his wife makes bad choices in friends, when in fact he is the one who doesn’t keep good company.

4. Regression

When faced with a stressful situation, we sometimes revert to child behavior in order to deal with it. For example, boys who learn sex education at school may start giggling to hide their embarrassment. Similarly, Freudian psychoanalysts theorize that smoking or overeating during stressful moments is a regression to the first developmental stage of that theory, namely the oral phase.

Many psychiatrists view regression as a therapeutic method that may be useful to a person as long as it is overseen by a professional, and is used for guided imagery or hypnosis.

5. Displacement

Displacement is when the mind unconsciously substitutes either an aim or object for a new one when the aim or object in its original form is deemed too dangerous to confront. For example, a person who is always being reprimanded at work will come home and reprimand his children (the new "object") instead of getting back at the person he wants, which is his boss (the original, dangerous "object).

The purpose of this mechanism is to reduce stress, and it exists even in animals. For example, a sparrow will begin to peck frantically at a tree when it's confronted with a rival bird that it cannot attack due to being too small or otherwise.

6. Rationalization

Another simpler name for this mechanism could be "inventing excuses". Rationalization involves our unconscious mind distorting the objective facts of a given situation or event in order to fit in with a narrative that will make us feel better about ourselves. For example, a person who was offered a wonderful job, but was fired after a single week, can rationalize the situation by holding a belief that the company they worked for is bad, and that they didn't want to work there in the first place.

Another example is a father who constantly yells at his children and claims that it is to educate and discipline them. Instead of acknowledging responsibility for his undesirable and damaging behavior, he rationalizes it in his own mind by telling himself that he's only doing it for the sake of "educating" and "disciplining" his children.

7. Reaction formation

This defense mechanism causes a person to behave in a manner that's diametrically opposed to their genuine thoughts and emotions. The defense mechanism has two stages - the first is unconscious and is similar to denial, and the second is conscious.

For example, a celebrity or person in a position of power, such as a politician or a footballer, may denounce homosexual behavior, when he himself has homosexual tendencies. For the most part, the things he says about homosexuality will be very mean and harsh, in order to best clarify his "true" stance on the matter.

8. Intellectualization

Intellectualization is the avoidance of uncomfortable emotions by focusing on the facts and logic of a given situation. This results in the emotional (uncomfortable) aspects of the situation being deemed irrelevant.

For example, intellectualization allows a wife that has been diagnosed with cancer to have no qualms about investigating her illness at length without feeling the need to confront the devastation that her husband feels as a result of having a seriously ill partner. This can have a negative impact on the relationship, because seeing his wife intellectualizing her illness and appearing to feel relatively okay about it will prevent him from speaking up about his true feelings.

9. Sublimation

Un other defense mechanisms, sublimation is considered a positive mechanism, because makes the person deal with unacceptable impulses in a healthy, productive and creative way. For example, a young man with sadistic tendencies toward animals might turn his unacceptable impulses into a career as a surgeon later in life.

The greatest advantage of this mechanism is that there is no need for constant investment of energy to prevent impulses, and therefore it is considered much healthier and more positive for the person’s mental health.

How Get My Parking is resolving parking issues with a mobile app

noreply@blogger.com (Ozymandias) — Mon, 8 Jan 2018 18:34:00 -0800

Chhavi Tyagi

, ET Online|

Jan 08, 2018

Name of the Company: Get My Parking
Name of Founder (s): Rasik Pansare, Chirag Jain, Rahul Gupta
City: Delhi
Revenues: NA
Headcount: 67
Industry: Tech
Investors Details & Amount raised: $3 mn (IAN, BEENEXT and IAN Fund), $1.1 mn and $376000

Multiple factors have a say in your evening plans, vehicle parking should not be one of them. However, parking in India is fast becoming a monstrous crisis. Highly unorganised and painfully manual, the industry seems to be begging for a solution and Get My Parking believes it has the right solution for all the ills gripping the sector.

An IoT based platform, Get My Parking is a mobile-based parking management system which is digitising the parking industry.

Launched in July 2015, Get My Parking has digitised over 300 parking lots with installing 800 plus devices executing 65000 transactions per day. The swift acceptance of the solution developed by this startup speaks volumes about the growing issues in the parking industry.

"Within six months of launching our solution, we had digitised over 50 parking lots. We used to spend 14 hours a day in parking lots, sat with the parking 'mafias' to understand

how the industry functions, and even played board games with parking attendants," shares Pansare.

The solution when displayed to the parking contractors awed them so much they branded it as "magic", something, which Pansare says, highlights the absence of any technological disruption in the industry. Despite the wonder it evoked, the founders still had to convince the contractors of the impact the technology was capable of creating.

"It was like explaining banking to someone who has never banked. However, our agile, modular, mobile-based parking management system was soon lapped up by the unorganised industry," says Pansare. Stamping its technology on a number of parking spots in North India, the company is now working towards parking itself in Southern cities.

"We just opened an office in Bengaluru and will use the base to look for opportunities in South India," shares Pansare.

2018, says Pansare, is going to be an important year. The company has received interest not just from Indian cities, but also international destinations. "We are poised for international growth with contractual partners in 15 countries to cater to the needs of global parking solution. We have recently expanded to Taiwan, where a pilot of our technology with on-street sensors is taking place. We are also working on pilots in countries like Europe, China and USA," adds Pansare.
The company is also targeting break-even by the end of next fiscal year, plus an expansion to 15 countries during the same period.

A chaotic opportunity
The app seeks to simplify parking by digitising the entire process from ticketing to auditing. To users, the app provides information on the nearby location of the parking lots, availability of parking spots, ticket pricing so as to avoid overcharges. To parking attendants, Get My Parking helps in digitally managing the lot, cashless platform for payment, revenue management, accounting, auditing. "It is more like an ERP solution for parking contractors," summarises Pansare.

While the app is free for individuals, the company charges license fee to the contractors for its usage and an upfront payment for any hardware installation.

"Our key focus is on providing statistical and real-time information of parking vacancies. Besides this, the digital collection of parking revenues substantially reduces the cost compared to having an expensive infrastructure in the streets," says Pansare.

The company plans to soon introduce a new feature which will allow the commuters to book a parking spot on the app.

video: https://youtu.be/1ei1bQskP48

The startup's line of work involves working with multiple stakeholders - state governments, city administrations, parking contractors, landlords, shopping mall owners, etc. The company has a separate sales team to deal with each of these stakeholders along with a marketing team to popularise the app amongst the users.
Get My Parking has also executed parking for major events like Mahakumbh in 2016 and for Delhi Daredevils; however, events are not substantial revenue stream for the company. "Events do not add much to our topline, but they do work as proof of concept in places where we do not yet have a presence. They are more like cherry on top," says Pansare.

Initially supported by personal savings and loan from friends, the company has recently

raised $3 million in Series A from Indian Angel Network, BEENEXT and IAN Fund. Earlier, Get My Parking had received $1.1 million as pre-series A and $376k as angel investment.

Hurdles
While the company is resolving parking issues, Pansare says some changes in how the industry functions can help the startup in resolving these issues faster. Pansare says that there is a need to separate the technology from the manpower management aspect of the business. "At present, the city administrators give out one tender for the operations and the technology for the parking. The government does not want to talk to multiple vendors; but it does not provide the best results because managing manpower and providing technology are two very different core competencies. There is a need to separate the two functions," suggests Pansare.

And while the startup is working to resolve parking issues, Pansare believes that introducing congestion pricing will help in reducing a lot of stress on the streets as well as on the environment. "Crowded cities like London, Dubai have zones with differential parking pricing to relieve congestion. This helps in cutting down on needless miles spent on searching for a parking spot in a crowded area. We need a similar policy if we do not want India to be one of the most polluted countries of the world," says Pansare.

Policies are lagging far behind the strenuous demands put on Indian cities by urbanisation, but Pansare says Get My Parking will do its best to meet the demands of the parking industry.

A Neuroscientist Explores the "Sanskrit Effect"

noreply@blogger.com (Ozymandias) — Mon, 8 Jan 2018 18:33:00 -0800

MRI scans show that memorizing ancient mantras increases the size of brain regions associated with cognitive function

By James Hartzell on January 2, 2018

Manjuvajramandala with 43 deities, from Tibet. Credit: Google Cultural Institute WikimediA hundred dhoti-clad young men sat cross-legged on the floor in facing rows, chatting amongst themselves. At a sign from their teacher the hall went quiet. Then they began the recitation. Without pause or error, entirely from memory, one side of the room intoned one line of the text, then the other side of the room answered with the next line. Bass and baritone voices filled the hall with sonorous prosody, every word distinctly heard, their right arms moving together to mark pitch and accent. The effect was hypnotic, ancient sound reverberating through the room, saturating brain and body. After 20 minutes they halted, in unison. It was just a demonstration. The full recitation of one of India´s most ancient Sanskrit texts, the Shukla Yajurveda, takes six hours.

I spent many years studying and translating Sanskrit, and became fascinated by its apparent impact on mind and memory. In India's ancient learning methods textual memorization is standard: traditional scholars, or pandits, master many different types of Sanskrit poetry and prose texts; and the tradition holds that exactly memorizing and reciting the ancient words and phrases, known as mantras, enhances both memory and thinking.

I had also noticed that the more Sanskrit I studied and translated, the better my verbal memory seemed to become. Fellow students and teachers often remarked on my ability to exactly repeat lecturers’ own sentences when asking them questions in class. Other translators of Sanskrit told me of similar cognitive shifts. So I was curious: was there actually a language-specific “Sanskrit effect” as claimed by the tradition?

When I entered the cognitive neuroscience doctoral program at the University of Trento (Italy) in 2011, I had the opportunity to start investigating this question. India's Vedic Sanskrit pandits train for years to orally memorize and exactly recite 3,000-year old oral texts ranging from 40,000 to over 100,000 words. We wanted to find out how such intense verbal memory training affects the physical structure of their brains. Through the India-Trento Partnership for Advanced Research (ITPAR), we recruited professional Vedic pandits from several government-sponsored schools in the Delhi region; then we used structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at India’s National Brain Research Center to scan the brains of pandits and controls matched for age, gender, handedness, eye-dominance and multilingualism.

What we discovered from the structural MRI scanning was remarkable. Numerous regions in the brains of the pandits were dramatically larger than those of controls, with over 10 percent more grey matter across both cerebral hemispheres, and substantial increases in cortical thickness. Although the exact cellular underpinnings of gray matter and cortical thickness measures are still under investigation, increases in these metrics consistently correlate with enhanced cognitive function.

Most interestingly for verbal memory was that the pandits' right hippocampus—a region of the brain that plays a vital role in both short and long-term memory—had more gray matter than controls across nearly 75 percent of this subcortical structure. Our brains have two hippocampi, one on the left and one on the right, and without them we cannot record any new information. Many memory functions are shared by the two hippocampi. The right is, however, more specialized for patterns, whether sound, spatial or visual, so the large gray matter increases we found in the pandits’ right hippocampus made sense: accurate recitation requires highly precise sound pattern encoding and reproduction. The pandits also showed substantially thickening of right temporal cortex regions that are associated with speech prosody and voice identity.

Our study was a first foray into imaging the brains of professionally trained Sanskrit pandits in India. Although this initial research, focused on intergroup comparison of brain structure, could not directly address the Sanskrit effect question (that requires detailed functional studies with cross-language memorization comparisons, for which we are currently seeking funding), we found something specific about intensive verbal memory training. Does the pandits’ substantial increase in the gray matter of critical verbal memory organs mean they are less prone to devastating memory pathologies such as Alzheimer's? We don't know yet, though anecdotal reports from India's Ayurvedic doctors suggest this may be the case. If so, this raises the possibility that verbal memory “exercising‘ or training might help elderly people at risk of mild cognitive impairment retard or, even more radically, prevent its onset.

If so, the training might need to be exact. One day I was filming four senior pandit teachers demonstrating the different recitation speeds. Partway into one session all four suddenly stopped. “What’s wrong?‘ I asked. “One of us made a slight error," came the response. "I don’t mind," I said. "Yes, but we do," and they restarted the entire recitation from the beginning.

Have You Heard Of The Only Man To Fight In WWII With A Long Bow And Sword?

noreply@blogger.com (Ozymandias) — Mon, 8 Jan 2018 18:25:00 -0800

BY DAN DOYLE

John Malcolm Thorpe Fleming Churchill was born in Hong Kong in the early part of the 20th century and would graduate from the the military academy at Sandhurst in 1926. But that is only the beginning of a story that almost defies credibility, except for the fact that every bit of it is absolutely true.

I came across this video and this story recently as I was reading the poem “Lepanto” by G. K. Chesterton along with some literary criticism and some essays about the poem.

The poem is about the great naval battle that took place in the Adriatic Sea on Sunday October 6, 1571, in the Gulf of Patras near Lepanto, Greece. It was there that the outnumbered Christian fleet and forces under the leadership of one Don John of Austria, the illegitimate son of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, and half brother to King Philip II of Spain, met and defeated the larger and more powerful Muslim fleet of the Turkish Ottoman Empire of Sultan Selim II, which was under the command of the famous and very successful, Ali Pasha.

Source: Wikimedia Commons
John Malcolm Thorpe Fleming Churchill, AKA “Mad Jack,” examines a confiscated cannon during WWII.

That huge Muslim fleet was on its way to lay siege to Venice and Rome and to conquer Europe. At the end of the day, the great Muslim fleet was completely destroyed. To make a long story short, Don John of Austria was called the last of the Crusaders by Chesterton, “someone who in council would rise above pettiness and envy, who in battle would lead without flinching.”

Well, if Don John of Austria was the last of the Crusaders, John Malcolm Thorpe Fleming Churchill was, in this writer’s estimation, the last of the Knights of the Round Table.

Source: Wikimedia Commons
Mad Jack (at far right) charges the beach, sword in hand.

This man’s story as a war fighter is one that can only be described as “legendary.” Indeed, those who fought with him would nickname him “Mad Jack” for reasons you will see in this video. Why do I call him the last of the chivalric knights? Because it was his habit to go into battle during the whole of WWII carrying a long bow and a broad sword, and bagpipes. He would be the only man in WWII to actually take out a German enemy soldier with a long bow.

He, like Don John of Austria, was one who “in battle would lead without flinching.”

As you will see in this animated video about Mad Jack’s exploits during WWII he would prepare his troops by playing his bagpipes, then, with his long bow and quiver of arrows over his shoulder, he would lead his troops into battle with a rifle in one hand, waving his broad sword above his head with the other. His courage was as legendary as that described in the Medieval romances about Sir Lancelot, Sir Bedivere, or Sir Gawain. Only his actions were real, and were undertaken in the midst of the most dire of circumstances in modern war.

Source: Wikimedia Commons
John Malcolm Thorpe Fleming Churchill after WWII.

On one occasion, as you will see, he was able take 136 German prisoners with a commando force of only 50 men during a nighttime attack on a German position. He had his men form into several columns around the Germans and had them shouting the word, “Commando,” over and over again in the dark, creating enough of a din that the Germans thought they were facing a much larger force.

He and a corporal took 42 of those prisoners by themselves.

Over the course of WWII he would be awarded two Military Crosses for valor. He would be wounded in the neck by machine gun fire, and serve all over Europe from Dunkirk at the beginning of the war, to Norway, to the Balkans, and would be captured by the Germans and escape twice.

Source: Flickr/Elliott Brown
A dedication to Lieutenant Colonel John Malcolm Thorpe Fleming ‘Jack’ Churchill on the Walk of Heroes on Broad Street in Birmingham, England.

Mad Jack would then make his way to Burma to fight the Japanese. By the time he arrived there the war was over because of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but Mad Jack wasn’t done yet. He would travel to Palestine after WWII was over and help in the fight for Jewish independence in 1948.

When asked why he carried a long bow and a broad sword his simple response was, “An officer without a sword is improperly dressed.”

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/3ZRVpYPFOl0

Mad Jack’s career certainly does have the quality of a Medieval Knightly legend in it. He had the character and the daring of one of those chivalric knights, and he certainly went into battle carrying the accoutrements of a warrior from that earlier age. He was, in fact, the only man to go into battle with a long bow and a sword in WWII.

He was the last of his kind.

Dan Doyle is a husband, father, grandfather, Vietnam veteran, and retired professor of Humanities at Seattle University. He taught 13 years at the high school level and 22 years at the university level. He spends his time now babysitting his granddaughter. He is a poet and a blogger as well. Dan holds an AA degree in English Literature, a BA in Comparative Literature, and an MA in Theology, and writes regularly for The Veterans Site Blog.

Reading & Conversation with Irish poet Gabriel Rosenstock

noreply@blogger.com (Ozymandias) — Fri, 5 Jan 2018 00:37:00 -0800

The Poetry Club, Mumbai & G5A Foundation for Contemporary Culture brings two Haiku poets from two different continents to read and talk about this beautiful form of poetry.

This Saturday, don't miss Irish poet Gabriel Rosenstock and Indian poet Rochelle Potkar, in conversation.

Our guest poets for the evening also include local poets Scherezade Siobhan, Raamesh Gowri Raghavan & Yash Pandit, who would be sharing some of their poems with us!

The evening will close with a Q&A session open to the audience.

Entry is free, but only limited slots. RSVP here: https://goo.gl/forms/a8XKEjuANudd3OF32

About Gabriel:
Poet, tankaist, haikuist, novelist, essayist, playwright, short story writer, author/translator of over 180 books, mostly in Irish (Gaelic), Gabriel is the member of Aosdána (Irish Academy of arts & letters), former Chairman Poetry Ireland/Éigse Éireann. He taught haiku at the Schule für Dichtung (Poetry Academy), Vienna, and Hyderabad Literary Festival. He's also a prolific translator/ transcreator into Irish of international poetry (among many others Ko Un, Seamus Heaney, K. Satchidanandan, Rabindranath Tagore, Muhammad Iqbal, Hilde Domin, Peter Huchel etc.), plays (Beckett, Frisch, Yeats), and songs (Bob Dylan, Kate Bush, The Pogues, Leonard Cohen, Bob Marley etc)

When paratroopers won the enemy’s respect

noreply@blogger.com (Ozymandias) — Thu, 4 Jan 2018 23:47:00 -0800

Transcript:

When paratroopers

won the enemy’s respect

Mandhol Guns Become Stuff Of Army Legends

Ajay.Sura@timesgroup-com

Chandigarh: When 120 Indian para commandos landed inside Pakistani territory in the Poonch sector of Jammu and Kashmir during the 1971 war, even the enemy had applaud the ‘excellent work by the boys" in a post-war flag meeting. The men from9 Para, a special-forces unit of the Army’s Parachute Regiment, had entered’15-to-20 kilometres deep into Pakistan and destroyed its artillery guns. Nearly 60 Pakistani troops were killed and those who fled their posts were court-martialled. This first raid behind the enemy lines, which the future leaders of the army read about in military academies, forced the Pakistani army to raise a second line of defence for its artillery, changing its military doctrine.

Recalling the war, Colonel K D Pathak (retd), then a captain and second-in-command (2IC) of the raiding company said, "During the night of December 13, 1971 my unit was assigned the task of destroying Pakistani artillery guns deployed near Mandhol village 19 km southwest of Poonch. These six l22-millimetre Chinese guns of the Pakistani battery were creating trouble for our 92 and 120 infantry brigades. The 9 Para unit was then posted at Nangi Tekri (naked hill), 4,665 feet above the sea level in the Poonch sector.

m”

Colonel Pathak, now 77, remembers how the company of six officers and 120 men led by Major C M Malhotra started around 5.30 pm on “that cold night". "We had to cross neck-deep water of the Poonch river to reach Mandhol, which we found to be deserted. After locating the guns, the party split into six groups one to take down each target. In a fierce battle with the enemy, we blew up all its guns with 3-to-5 kg timee explosives powered by pencil cells and and put inside the barrels. Many Pakistani soldiers were killed. Several fled. We lost only two men, while 20 were wounded.” said the veteran.

One of the founders of the Indian special forces, Colonel Pathak said most difficult task was to return safely with 20 wounded soldiers and the body of another. They finished it at 6:30 am next day. The colonel who retired in 1992 said this raid had shattered the local Pakistani line of defence. “It was precise, calculated and succesful operation inside the enemy territory” he said. "After the war, even the military delegation from Pakistan praised the professionalism of Indian troops".

NIGHT OPS (inset)

Returning from the operation; the unit saw abandoned mules of the Pakistani army but when they tried to take the these along; the loyal animal refused to move an inch
The success of 9 Para was recognised only when the Pakistan Army delegation narrated after the ceasefire what damage the unit had done at Mandhol
Learning a lesson from this setback, the Pakistani army raised a second line of defence for its artillery guns

Ancient India has solutions for all our modern problems

noreply@blogger.com (Ozymandias) — Wed, 3 Jan 2018 00:39:00 -0800

BY SURABHI AGARWAL, ET BUREAU | JAN 03, 2018,

India has a cure to the burnout epidemic spreading world-over, says Arianna Huffington, author and businesswoman who founded well-being and productivity platform Thrive Global. In India, for the formal launch of the productivity platform's operations, Huffington spoke about the future of digital media in an interview with ET's Surabhi Agarwal. Huffington, who is also on board of ride-hailing app Uber, spoke about at length about India's long tradition of ancient wisdom like Yoga, meditation and Vedas. Edited excerpts.

What are your plans for the Indian operation of Thrive Global?

We believe that India is key to our expansion. As I wrote in my open letter, India is the source of a lot of ancient wisdom that we are using in our behaviour change microsteps — all validated by modern science. So we believe that India has a lot of solutions to the modern problems — not just for India but for the whole world.

You talk of the ill effects of burnouts, stress, bad decisions. Were these a feature of the troubles at Uber also?

I joined the board of Uber in the spring of 2016, and it's very clear that Uber, being an incredibly hyper growth company, also manifested the dangers of allowing the culture to be fuelled by burnout.
It had a hyper growth mentality that allowed employees to deliver results, (but) also exhibit bad behaviour and get away with it. So it should be a teachable moment for other entrepreneurs who think that they can just grow, fast and all will be well.

Do you think Uber is doing enough to fix its culture?
There are huge changes. I oversaw the committee that investigated what had happened. We adopted all 47 recommendations. They are either ahead of schedule or are being implemented right now. With SoftBank is coming in with a big investment, there are governance changes. There will be more independent directors. In fact, Rajeev Misra, (CEO of SoftBank's $100-billion technology-focused Vision Fund) who is joining our board, is also joining the Uber board. So there is a lot happening that will bring about fundamental changes. So many powerful executives have lost their jobs. It is a clear deterrent to others by indicating zero tolerance. I call it the 'no brilliant jerks allowed' (strategy). That's the way to deter bad behaviour.

It is pretty clear that no company can just be in print. Every company has to have a digital component. All the traditional advertising models are not really working anymore because of the social media. So there are going to be multiple business models, we are no longer looking at one business model or a cookie cutter solution.

Any plans to re-enter the media business?
This (Thrive Global) is a media business. It is just not covering politics, it is covering life which I think is right now more important than covering politics. The truth is that we are really led by a lot of politicians who don't know how to govern themselves.

More wisdom and less stress is going to have a big indirect impact on politics because there is a direct connection between stress and burnout and bad decisions whether in media or in business.

How to submit EPF claim online, withdraw money without previous employer signature

noreply@blogger.com (Ozymandias) — Wed, 3 Jan 2018 00:21:00 -0800

Ritesh Bendre,BGR Thu, 28 Dec

We recently wrote about how you could check your EPF balance online and download your passbook. We also discussed how you could link your Aadhaar and EPF account. However, in case you’re wondering how you could submit an EPF claim request online, and withdraw money, follow the steps below.

Also Read

How to link your EPF with Aadhaar without signing in to your account

The best part of online claim submission is that you don’t need to visit your previous employer for verification of documents. You can withdraw your PF amount from the comforts of your home.

Checklist before you submit EPF withdrawal claim

In order to submit the claim, you need to know your UAN (Universal Account Number). If you’re unfamiliar with your UAN, you will get it from your salary slip. Go to the eSewa Portal and activate your UAN here.

Also Read

How to check your EPF balance online, view statement and download passbook

Ensure that your mobile number is linked with the UAN as you will get an OTP, which will be needed for the activation. Next, you will also need to ensure that your Aadhaarnumber is linked to the PF account. If not, then after logging in, you will need to click on the ‘Manage’ tab followed by KYC.

Here, you will also need to add other details such as your Bank Account Number and IFSC code, so that the withdrawal amount will be directly credited in the account that you have provided.

Once all these details are in place, you’re good to go.

How to fill EPF claim online and submit for withdrawal

The online application process is pretty simple. You will get a pre-filled form that will have all basic details such as your name, date of birth, mobile number, PAN and Aadhaar number among others. Follow the below-mentioned steps to submit the EPF withdrawal claim.

Step One

Head over to EPF India’s Member e-Sewa portal here and login using your UAN number and password.

Step Two

Click on the ‘Online Services’ tab and click on Claim (Form-31, 19, 10C). Here, the form 19 is for PF withdrawal, and form 10C is for pension withdrawal.

You will be able to see Member details, KYC details and Service details here. At the bottom, click on ‘Proceed for Online Claim’ after which you will be redirected to the claims page.

Step Three

On this page, you need to choose the type of claim under ‘I want to apply for’ tab – withdraw PF only or withdraw pension only. In case you are not eligible for any of the criteria, the option will not show up in the drop down.

Step Four

After selecting the relevant claim, you will see a detailed form. Fill it with details, and then authenticate using Aadhaar OTP to complete the claim submission. You will also get the claim form copy in PDF format, just save it.

The process generally takes about 20-30 days, after which the amount is credited in your linked bank account.

The EPFO’s online service also lets you track your claim status. Simply login to Member e-Sewa page then click on ‘Online Services’ followed by ‘Track Claim Status.’How to submit EPF claim online, withdraw money without previous employer signature

Ritesh Bendre,BGR Thu, 28 Dec 4:08 PM IST

Also Read

How to link your EPF with Aadhaar without signing in to your account

The best part of online claim submission is that you don’t need to visit your previous employer for verification of documents. You can withdraw your PF amount from the comforts of your home.

Checklist before you submit EPF withdrawal claim

Also Read

How to check your EPF balance online, view statement and download passbook

Here, you will also need to add other details such as your Bank Account Number and IFSC code, so that the withdrawal amount will be directly credited in the account that you have provided.

Once all these details are in place, you’re good to go.

How to fill EPF claim online and submit for withdrawal

Step One

Head over to EPF India’s Member e-Sewa portal here and login using your UAN number and password.

Step Two

Click on the ‘Online Services’ tab and click on Claim (Form-31, 19, 10C). Here, the form 19 is for PF withdrawal, and form 10C is for pension withdrawal.

You will be able to see Member details, KYC details and Service details here. At the bottom, click on ‘Proceed for Online Claim’ after which you will be redirected to the claims page.

Step Three

Step Four

The process generally takes about 20-30 days, after which the amount is credited in your linked bank account.

The EPFO’s online service also lets you track your claim status. Simply login to Member e-Sewa page then click on ‘Online Services’ followed by ‘Track Claim Status.’

How to submit EPF claim online, withdraw money without previous employer signature

Ritesh Bendre,BGR Thu, 28 Dec 4:08 PM IST

Also Read

How to link your EPF with Aadhaar without signing in to your account

The best part of online claim submission is that you don’t need to visit your previous employer for verification of documents. You can withdraw your PF amount from the comforts of your home.

Checklist before you submit EPF withdrawal claim

Also Read

How to check your EPF balance online, view statement and download passbook

Here, you will also need to add other details such as your Bank Account Number and IFSC code, so that the withdrawal amount will be directly credited in the account that you have provided.

Once all these details are in place, you’re good to go.

How to fill EPF claim online and submit for withdrawal

Step One

Head over to EPF India’s Member e-Sewa portal here and login using your UAN number and password.

Step Two

Click on the ‘Online Services’ tab and click on Claim (Form-31, 19, 10C). Here, the form 19 is for PF withdrawal, and form 10C is for pension withdrawal.

You will be able to see Member details, KYC details and Service details here. At the bottom, click on ‘Proceed for Online Claim’ after which you will be redirected to the claims page.

Step Three

Step Four

The process generally takes about 20-30 days, after which the amount is credited in your linked bank account.

The EPFO’s online service also lets you track your claim status. Simply login to Member e-Sewa page then click on ‘Online Services’ followed by ‘Track Claim Status.’

How to submit EPF claim online, withdraw money without previous employer signature

Ritesh Bendre,BGR Thu, 28 Dec 4:08 PM IST

Also Read

How to link your EPF with Aadhaar without signing in to your account

The best part of online claim submission is that you don’t need to visit your previous employer for verification of documents. You can withdraw your PF amount from the comforts of your home.

Checklist before you submit EPF withdrawal claim

Also Read

How to check your EPF balance online, view statement and download passbook

Here, you will also need to add other details such as your Bank Account Number and IFSC code, so that the withdrawal amount will be directly credited in the account that you have provided.

Once all these details are in place, you’re good to go.

How to fill EPF claim online and submit for withdrawal

Step One

Head over to EPF India’s Member e-Sewa portal here and login using your UAN number and password.

Step Two

Click on the ‘Online Services’ tab and click on Claim (Form-31, 19, 10C). Here, the form 19 is for PF withdrawal, and form 10C is for pension withdrawal.

You will be able to see Member details, KYC details and Service details here. At the bottom, click on ‘Proceed for Online Claim’ after which you will be redirected to the claims page.

Step Three

Step Four

The process generally takes about 20-30 days, after which the amount is credited in your linked bank account.

The EPFO’s online service also lets you track your claim status. Simply login to Member e-Sewa page then click on ‘Online Services’ followed by ‘Track Claim Status.’

How to submit EPF claim online, withdraw money without previous employer signature

Ritesh Bendre,BGR Thu, 28 Dec 4:08 PM IST

Also Read

How to link your EPF with Aadhaar without signing in to your account

The best part of online claim submission is that you don’t need to visit your previous employer for verification of documents. You can withdraw your PF amount from the comforts of your home.

Checklist before you submit EPF withdrawal claim

Also Read

How to check your EPF balance online, view statement and download passbook

Here, you will also need to add other details such as your Bank Account Number and IFSC code, so that the withdrawal amount will be directly credited in the account that you have provided.

Once all these details are in place, you’re good to go.

How to fill EPF claim online and submit for withdrawal

Step One

Head over to EPF India’s Member e-Sewa portal here and login using your UAN number and password.

Step Two

Click on the ‘Online Services’ tab and click on Claim (Form-31, 19, 10C). Here, the form 19 is for PF withdrawal, and form 10C is for pension withdrawal.

You will be able to see Member details, KYC details and Service details here. At the bottom, click on ‘Proceed for Online Claim’ after which you will be redirected to the claims page.

Step Three

Step Four

The process generally takes about 20-30 days, after which the amount is credited in your linked bank account.

The EPFO’s online service also lets you track your claim status. Simply login to Member e-Sewa page then click on ‘Online Services’ followed by ‘Track Claim Status.’

How to submit EPF claim online, withdraw money without previous employer signature

Ritesh Bendre,BGR Thu, 28 Dec 4:08 PM IST

Also Read

How to link your EPF with Aadhaar without signing in to your account

The best part of online claim submission is that you don’t need to visit your previous employer for verification of documents. You can withdraw your PF amount from the comforts of your home.

Checklist before you submit EPF withdrawal claim

Also Read

How to check your EPF balance online, view statement and download passbook

Here, you will also need to add other details such as your Bank Account Number and IFSC code, so that the withdrawal amount will be directly credited in the account that you have provided.

Once all these details are in place, you’re good to go.

How to fill EPF claim online and submit for withdrawal

Step One

Head over to EPF India’s Member e-Sewa portal here and login using your UAN number and password.

Step Two

Click on the ‘Online Services’ tab and click on Claim (Form-31, 19, 10C). Here, the form 19 is for PF withdrawal, and form 10C is for pension withdrawal.

You will be able to see Member details, KYC details and Service details here. At the bottom, click on ‘Proceed for Online Claim’ after which you will be redirected to the claims page.

Step Three

Step Four

The process generally takes about 20-30 days, after which the amount is credited in your linked bank account.

The EPFO’s online service also lets you track your claim status. Simply login to Member e-Sewa page then click on ‘Online Services’ followed by ‘Track Claim Status.’

How to submit EPF claim online, withdraw money without previous employer signature

Ritesh Bendre,BGR Thu, 28 Dec 4:08 PM IST

Also Read

How to link your EPF with Aadhaar without signing in to your account

The best part of online claim submission is that you don’t need to visit your previous employer for verification of documents. You can withdraw your PF amount from the comforts of your home.

Checklist before you submit EPF withdrawal claim

Also Read

How to check your EPF balance online, view statement and download passbook

Here, you will also need to add other details such as your Bank Account Number and IFSC code, so that the withdrawal amount will be directly credited in the account that you have provided.

Once all these details are in place, you’re good to go.

How to fill EPF claim online and submit for withdrawal

Step One

Head over to EPF India’s Member e-Sewa portal here and login using your UAN number and password.

Step Two

Click on the ‘Online Services’ tab and click on Claim (Form-31, 19, 10C). Here, the form 19 is for PF withdrawal, and form 10C is for pension withdrawal.

You will be able to see Member details, KYC details and Service details here. At the bottom, click on ‘Proceed for Online Claim’ after which you will be redirected to the claims page.

Step Three

Step Four

The process generally takes about 20-30 days, after which the amount is credited in your linked bank account.

The EPFO’s online service also lets you track your claim status. Simply login to Member e-Sewa page then click on ‘Online Services’ followed by ‘Track Claim Status.’

How to submit EPF claim online, withdraw money without previous employer signature

Ritesh Bendre,BGR Thu, 28 Dec 4:08 PM IST

Also Read

How to link your EPF with Aadhaar without signing in to your account

The best part of online claim submission is that you don’t need to visit your previous employer for verification of documents. You can withdraw your PF amount from the comforts of your home.

Checklist before you submit EPF withdrawal claim

Also Read

How to check your EPF balance online, view statement and download passbook

Here, you will also need to add other details such as your Bank Account Number and IFSC code, so that the withdrawal amount will be directly credited in the account that you have provided.

Once all these details are in place, you’re good to go.

How to fill EPF claim online and submit for withdrawal

Step One

Head over to EPF India’s Member e-Sewa portal here and login using your UAN number and password.

Step Two

Click on the ‘Online Services’ tab and click on Claim (Form-31, 19, 10C). Here, the form 19 is for PF withdrawal, and form 10C is for pension withdrawal.

You will be able to see Member details, KYC details and Service details here. At the bottom, click on ‘Proceed for Online Claim’ after which you will be redirected to the claims page.

Step Three

Step Four

The process generally takes about 20-30 days, after which the amount is credited in your linked bank account.

The EPFO’s online service also lets you track your claim status. Simply login to Member e-Sewa page then click on ‘Online Services’ followed by ‘Track Claim Status.’

How to submit EPF claim online, withdraw money without previous employer signature

Ritesh Bendre,BGR Thu, 28 Dec 4:08 PM IST

Also Read

How to link your EPF with Aadhaar without signing in to your account

The best part of online claim submission is that you don’t need to visit your previous employer for verification of documents. You can withdraw your PF amount from the comforts of your home.

Checklist before you submit EPF withdrawal claim

Also Read

How to check your EPF balance online, view statement and download passbook

Here, you will also need to add other details such as your Bank Account Number and IFSC code, so that the withdrawal amount will be directly credited in the account that you have provided.

Once all these details are in place, you’re good to go.

How to fill EPF claim online and submit for withdrawal

Step One

Head over to EPF India’s Member e-Sewa portal here and login using your UAN number and password.

Step Two

Click on the ‘Online Services’ tab and click on Claim (Form-31, 19, 10C). Here, the form 19 is for PF withdrawal, and form 10C is for pension withdrawal.

You will be able to see Member details, KYC details and Service details here. At the bottom, click on ‘Proceed for Online Claim’ after which you will be redirected to the claims page.

Step Three

Step Four

The process generally takes about 20-30 days, after which the amount is credited in your linked bank account.

The EPFO’s online service also lets you track your claim status. Simply login to Member e-Sewa page then click on ‘Online Services’ followed by ‘Track Claim Status.’

How to submit EPF claim online, withdraw money without previous employer signature

Ritesh Bendre,BGR Thu, 28 Dec 4:08 PM IST

Also Read

How to link your EPF with Aadhaar without signing in to your account

The best part of online claim submission is that you don’t need to visit your previous employer for verification of documents. You can withdraw your PF amount from the comforts of your home.

Checklist before you submit EPF withdrawal claim

Also Read

How to check your EPF balance online, view statement and download passbook

Here, you will also need to add other details such as your Bank Account Number and IFSC code, so that the withdrawal amount will be directly credited in the account that you have provided.

Once all these details are in place, you’re good to go.

How to fill EPF claim online and submit for withdrawal

Step One

Head over to EPF India’s Member e-Sewa portal here and login using your UAN number and password.

Step Two

Click on the ‘Online Services’ tab and click on Claim (Form-31, 19, 10C). Here, the form 19 is for PF withdrawal, and form 10C is for pension withdrawal.

You will be able to see Member details, KYC details and Service details here. At the bottom, click on ‘Proceed for Online Claim’ after which you will be redirected to the claims page.

Step Three

Step Four

The process generally takes about 20-30 days, after which the amount is credited in your linked bank account.

The EPFO’s online service also lets you track your claim status. Simply login to Member e-Sewa page then click on ‘Online Services’ followed by ‘Track Claim Status.’

How to submit EPF claim online, withdraw money without previous employer signature

Ritesh Bendre,BGR Thu, 28 Dec 4:08 PM IST

Also Read

How to link your EPF with Aadhaar without signing in to your account

The best part of online claim submission is that you don’t need to visit your previous employer for verification of documents. You can withdraw your PF amount from the comforts of your home.

Checklist before you submit EPF withdrawal claim

Also Read

How to check your EPF balance online, view statement and download passbook

Here, you will also need to add other details such as your Bank Account Number and IFSC code, so that the withdrawal amount will be directly credited in the account that you have provided.

Once all these details are in place, you’re good to go.

How to fill EPF claim online and submit for withdrawal

Step One

Head over to EPF India’s Member e-Sewa portal here and login using your UAN number and password.

Step Two

Click on the ‘Online Services’ tab and click on Claim (Form-31, 19, 10C). Here, the form 19 is for PF withdrawal, and form 10C is for pension withdrawal.

You will be able to see Member details, KYC details and Service details here. At the bottom, click on ‘Proceed for Online Claim’ after which you will be redirected to the claims page.

Step Three

Step Four

The process generally takes about 20-30 days, after which the amount is credited in your linked bank account.

The EPFO’s online service also lets you track your claim status. Simply login to Member e-Sewa page then click on ‘Online Services’ followed by ‘Track Claim Status.’

How to submit EPF claim online, withdraw money without previous employer signature

Ritesh Bendre,BGR Thu, 28 Dec 4:08 PM IST

Also Read

How to link your EPF with Aadhaar without signing in to your account

The best part of online claim submission is that you don’t need to visit your previous employer for verification of documents. You can withdraw your PF amount from the comforts of your home.

Checklist before you submit EPF withdrawal claim

Also Read

How to check your EPF balance online, view statement and download passbook

Here, you will also need to add other details such as your Bank Account Number and IFSC code, so that the withdrawal amount will be directly credited in the account that you have provided.

Once all these details are in place, you’re good to go.

How to fill EPF claim online and submit for withdrawal

Step One

Head over to EPF India’s Member e-Sewa portal here and login using your UAN number and password.

Step Two

Click on the ‘Online Services’ tab and click on Claim (Form-31, 19, 10C). Here, the form 19 is for PF withdrawal, and form 10C is for pension withdrawal.

You will be able to see Member details, KYC details and Service details here. At the bottom, click on ‘Proceed for Online Claim’ after which you will be redirected to the claims page.

Step Three

Step Four

The process generally takes about 20-30 days, after which the amount is credited in your linked bank account.

The EPFO’s online service also lets you track your claim status. Simply login to Member e-Sewa page then click on ‘Online Services’ followed by ‘Track Claim Status.’

How to submit EPF claim online, withdraw money without previous employer signature

Ritesh Bendre,BGR Thu, 28 Dec 4:08 PM IST

Also Read

How to link your EPF with Aadhaar without signing in to your account

The best part of online claim submission is that you don’t need to visit your previous employer for verification of documents. You can withdraw your PF amount from the comforts of your home.

Checklist before you submit EPF withdrawal claim

Also Read

How to check your EPF balance online, view statement and download passbook

Here, you will also need to add other details such as your Bank Account Number and IFSC code, so that the withdrawal amount will be directly credited in the account that you have provided.

Once all these details are in place, you’re good to go.

How to fill EPF claim online and submit for withdrawal

Step One

Head over to EPF India’s Member e-Sewa portal here and login using your UAN number and password.

Step Two

Click on the ‘Online Services’ tab and click on Claim (Form-31, 19, 10C). Here, the form 19 is for PF withdrawal, and form 10C is for pension withdrawal.

You will be able to see Member details, KYC details and Service details here. At the bottom, click on ‘Proceed for Online Claim’ after which you will be redirected to the claims page.

Step Three

Step Four

The process generally takes about 20-30 days, after which the amount is credited in your linked bank account.

The EPFO’s online service also lets you track your claim status. Simply login to Member e-Sewa page then click on ‘Online Services’ followed by ‘Track Claim Status.’

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