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2015-04-12T21:22:00.001-07:00

'Queen' actress Lisa Hayden EXPOSES at an event

2015-04-12T21:05:00.001-07:00

OMG! Sunny Leone definitely NEEDS TO WATCH this

2015-04-12T20:59:00.001-07:00

911 calls detail Asiana crash horror

2013-07-11T20:09:00.000-07:00

RTNN: Shortly after Asiana Airlines Flight 214 crashed in San Francisco, passengers and witnesses pleaded with 911 responders to send help -- some frantically, some insistently.

"I'm reporting an airplane crash at SFO (San Francisco International Airport)," an early witness said in calls released by the California Highway Patrol.

"An airplane crash at SFO?" a dispatcher asked.

"Yeah. We were hiking on a trail outside Pacifica and we heard a giant explosion and ... an airplane had crashed right there at SFO."

Another caller dialed 911, thinking the response was taking too long.

"We still don't see any firemen or anything," another witness said.

"We are responding, trust me," the operator responded.

Moments before, the Boeing 777's main landing gear slammed into a seawall between the airport and San Francisco Bay, spinning the aircraft 360 degrees as it broke into pieces and eventually caught fire.

Those who could poured out of the plane in the aftermath, dialing for help as they escaped.

"We are at the San Francisco airport and our airplane just crashed upon landing and we think we need someone here, someone here as soon as possible," a passenger said.

The dispatcher asks: Which runway?

"I don't know what runway. We just literally ran out of the airplane."

Did passengers ignore safety messages?

First responders were on the scene two minutes after the crash to tend to the injured, National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah Hersman said Wednesday. About a minute later, there were firefighters equipped to douse the flames.

"We just got in a plane crash and there are a bunch of people who need help and there is not enough medics," a frantic caller said. "There is a woman out here on the street, on the runway, who is pretty much burned severely on the head and we don't know what to do."

The dispatcher assured the caller that help is on the way.

Did pilot have enough 777 experience?

The toll

The crash claimed the lives of two 16-year-old girls from China, who were coming to the United States for a church camp.

Of the 307 passengers and crew aboard the Seoul-to-San Francisco flight, 305 survived. Out of those, 123 were uninjured, while the rest went to Bay Area hospitals. Some of them were still there, including a handful in critical condition.

The shear number of injured overwhelmed emergency crews for a time, frustrating those who survived, but saw their fellow passengers suffering.

"There are no ambulances out here," a caller said. "We have been on the ground for 20 minutes. Critical injuries."

"Were you on the plane ma'am?" the dispatcher asks.

"Yes I was on the plane! We have been on the ground for, I don't know 20 minutes to half an hour?" she said. "There are people laying on the tarmac with critical injuries, head injuries We are almost losing a woman here. We're trying to keep her alive."

U.S. delivering F-16 jets to Egypt

2013-07-11T20:06:00.000-07:00

The Obama administration tentatively plans to deliver four F-16 aircraft to Egypt, but is reviewing all U.S. military aid arrangements, according to a Pentagon official.

The planes were scheduled to be shipped by the end of August, but the delivery could be made more complicated if there is no Egyptian military plan to transition to civilian rule and the United States were compelled to formally declare a military coup had taken place, the official said.

If that declaration were made, it most likely would result in aid being halted. The official declined to be identified because of the sensitive nature of the information.

Until Thursday, all indications had been that the deliveries would go through as part of a $1.3 billion 2010 military aid package that called for 20 F-16s and Abrams tank parts to be sent to Egypt. A second Pentagon official had previously said the deliveries "were on track."

Read: Why Americans should care about Egypt ?

But at the behest of the White House, the Pentagon is now sounding a more cautious note.

"Given the events of last week, the president has directed relevant departments and agencies to review our assistance to the government of Egypt," the Defense Department said in a written statement.

Opinion: U.S. must not fail Egypt

As it measures its response to the recent events on Egypt, the U.S. needs to be extremely careful about focusing on the definition of "coup" and the legitimacy -- or non-legitimacy -- of Mohamed Morsy's election, the draft constitution, and the now-ousted Egyptian president's efforts to give himself additional powers. It needs to be equally careful about focusing on the protests that helped drive him from power, and the legitimacy of political Islam.

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If the U.S. focuses on whether or not a coup took place, it will be ignoring the fact that Egypt is a key center of the Middle East and that U.S. policy will be judged by its success in meeting the needs of Egypt's people. Egypt is a nation whose problems go far deeper than the crisis that began January 2011.

As the Arab Human Development report made clear in 2009, former President Hosni Mubarak's rule had become steadily more ineffective, corrupt, and incapable of meeting the needs of Egypt's people long before 2011. He had been in power since October 1981, but the social and economic progress he made in his first decade in power had faded into a static, incompetent regime by 2005, and one that became steadily more corrupt and unable to meet the needs of Egypt's young and growing population.

The last two years have made the situation far worse in ways that affect every aspect of day-to-day life. Mubarak's fall tore down a fragile regime that mixed a state-driven economy with crony capitalism. It was a country with a bureaucracy that could barely function without a strong leader, one with no opposition parties that had real political experience or capability to govern, and whose "reformers" were (and still are) protesters with no capability to make real reforms.

The end result is that Egypt is not an abstract exercise in political theory. It is a nation of more than 85 million people, at least 25% of whom live in dire poverty, and where unemployment and underemployment can no longer be accurately estimated but have reached the crisis level. It is a nation with over 50% of its populationunder 25 years of age, and 31% under 14, but with an education system in breakdown and much of the infrastructure frozen or losing capacity.

Egypt's foreign reserves have dropped by more than 50%and it faces a crisis in getting loans from the International Monetary Fund. It is a nation where foreign investment has critically declined, tourist revenue has dropped sharply, where many small businesses have already collapsed, and many middle class Egyptians have lost their jobs and savings. Fuel and electric power are lacking, food subsidies are uncertain and sometimes failing, the currency is increasingly unstable, and crime has skyrocketed.

U.S. policy must focus on these realities, and not just politics. The U.S., in partnership with its allies, the World Bank and other international aid agencies institutions needs to support immediate Egyptian efforts to salvage the economy and bring economic reform. It needs to focus on bringing relief and stability. No Egyptian government can succeed -- democratic or not -- that cannot meet the needs of the Egyptian people. Real political legitimacy is not determined by how a government is chosen, but by how well it can meet the needs of its people.

As for politics, the U.S. needs to work with other states to push Egypt's military to support the reforms that failed between early 2011 and Morsy's fall. This means a broad-based effort to agree on a constitution, the creation of real political parties, and help for protesters learning how to organize politically and focus on practical governance and reform. It means taking enough time for elections to be open, to include Islamic and more secular parties, and focusing on the same kind of mixed national government and consensus politics that seem to have emerged in Tunisia.

One test of a solution to a problem is that it does not make things even worse. Threatening Egypt's military, rigidly cutting off aid because of a "coup" under conditions where there is no credible replacement government, and standing aside as Egypt drifts towards internal collapse is not a strategy.

Letting today's celebration of Morsy's fall turn into civil conflict and political paralysis will be a moral and ethical failure on the part of the Obama administration and the Congress, one that will do the Egyptian people vast harm, cripple a key ally, and leave a legacy of lasting anger in both Egypt and the region.

Courtesy & Thanks: CNN

Why Americans should care about Egypt ?

2013-07-11T20:04:00.000-07:00

Washington -- As political turmoil engulfs Egypt, Americans are watching closely -- and they should be: What happens in Egypt will directly affect Americans in many ways.

1. Travel: See the pyramids along the Nile -- NOT

Egypt, with its 5,000-year history, the pyramids and pharaohs, was always a luxury travel destination for Americans but the political and social violence that has wracked the country for 2½ years has virtually destroyed Egypt's U.S. tourist business.

Post-coup violence erupts in Egypt

Now, the State Department is warning citizens not to travel to Egypt and U.S. citizens living in Egypt to leave. It also ordered non-emergency personnel and families of Americans working at the U.S. Embassy and consulate to leave.

2. Money

Egypt is America's closest ally in the Arab world and it gets $1.5 billion a year in U.S. taxpayer money for military and civilian programs. In fact, in the last 30 years, the United States has sent more foreign aid to Egypt than to any country except Israel.

Now, that money hangs in the balance as the Obama administration decides whether to call the overthrow of President Mohamed Morsy a "coup."

Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, tells CNN: "If this were to be seen as a coup then it would limit our ability to have the kind of relationship we think we need with the Egyptian armed forces."

3. Mideast peace

The United States helps Egypt because it's one of only two Arab countries -- along with Jordan -- that made peace with Israel. If Washington pulls its aid, it could affect prospects for peace in the Middle East.

ElBaradei: Morsy's ouster was needed so Egypt cannot 'fail'

"All of these things are tied together," says CNN's Fareed Zakaria. "The aid is tied to Egypt's peace treaty with Israel, so if our aid gets cut off what happens to the peace treaty with Israel? It's a hornets' nest and that's why the administration is trying not to stir it too much."

4. Gas prices

Egypt controls the Suez Canal, a crucial sea route for more than 4% of the world's oil supply and 8% of seaborne trade. So far, the canal is running smoothly -- but increased violence could end up hitting Americans in the pocketbook.

5. The linchpin

With 83 million people, Egypt is a cultural heavyweight in the Arab world.

"The great trends that have affected the United States have come out of Egypt," says Zakaria: everything from pan-Arab nationalism of the 1950s, Islamic fundamentalism which began in Egypt in the 1970s -- even al Qaeda has its roots in Egypt and Islamic Jihad.

"Egypt is the source of all the pop music, the soap operas, the movies of the Arab world," he added, "so what happens in Egypt tends to have a much wider resonance throughout the Arab world."

Until the Egyptian military ousted Morsy, Egypt also had a claim to fame politically: a democratically elected president and his Muslim Brotherhood party. It was a message to the Islamic world that democracy just might work. Now, there's a danger the military could violently repress the Muslim Brotherhood and it, in turn, could resort to violence.

That would make the whole Mideast region more unstable -- a worrisome development for the United States.

Courtesy & Thanks: CNN

US drone lands on carrier deck in historic flight

2013-07-11T19:48:00.000-07:00

A US Navy drone successfully touches down on the deck of an aircraft carrier in an historic first for robotic flight. Duration: 00:35

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Media wait outside London hospital for Kate

2013-07-11T19:43:00.000-07:00

The Duchess of Cambridge is expected to give birth in the coming days or weeks, and the world's media are growing in number outside St Mary's hospital in London where she will be cared for, determined not to miss developments. Duration: 00:31

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U.S. Navy ships in Red Sea move close to Egypt as precaution

2013-07-11T19:38:00.000-07:00

Two U.S. Navy ships patrolling in the Middle East moved closer to Egypt's Red Sea coast in recent days, the top Marine Corps general said on Thursday, in what appeared to be a precautionary move after the military overthrow of President Mohamed Mursi.

The United States often sends Navy vessels close to countries in turmoil in case it needs to protect or evacuate U.S. citizens or take part in humanitarian assistance. Their presence does not necessarily mean the United States is preparing to carry out military action.

"Egypt is (in) a crisis right now," Marine Corps Commandant General James Amos told the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank. "When that happens, what we owe the senior leadership of our nation are some options," Amos said. He did not say what the options were.

U.S. Navy and Marine Corp officials said the two ships, part of a three-ship amphibious readiness group, had been in the region since May, patrolling the Red Sea, Horn of Africa, the Gulf and the Arabian Sea, and that there were no new orders to prepare for a possible conflict in Egypt.

Washington has walked a careful line, neither welcoming Mursi's removal last week nor denouncing it as a "coup." U.S. defense officials on Wednesday said they still planned to send four F-16 fighter jets to the Egyptian government as planned in coming weeks.

Amos said the USS San Antonio, an amphibious transport dock, and the USS Kearsarge, an amphibious assault ship, had moved further north in the Red Sea two or three nights ago to better respond if needed.

U.S. Marine Corps officials said moving amphibious ships closer to shore would enable easier movement of helicopters and other equipment, if it were needed.

"Why? Because we don't know what's going to happen," he said.

Navy officials said the third ship in the group, the USS Carter Hall, remained off the coast of Bahrain in the Gulf.

Microsoft reorganizes to address mobile struggles

2013-07-11T19:36:00.000-07:00

Microsoft Corp launched its biggest internal restructuring in five years to unify development of its products including Windows, across an increasingly wide spectrum of ways to use them, from mobile devices to the cloud.

The company is trying to address a lack of coordination and spark innovation within the $74 billion annual revenue, 98,000-employee organization. The flagship Windows operating system, developed separately for PCs and mobile devices, will now be folded into one group, for instance.

The moves, many of which had been widely reported, re-align the company's operations to achieve Chief Executive Steve Ballmer's goal of becoming a "devices and services" corporation.

Microsoft, which has been struggling to compete in a world of mobile devices and Web-based services dominated by Apple Inc and Google Inc, launched the Surface tablet in 2012. But the device has failed to make meaningful headway against the iPad or Google Android devices made by Samsung Electronics and others.

Its Windows 8 release last year also alienated PC users accustomed to a long-established interface, prompting Microsoft to bring back, among other things, the familiar "Start" button in a hasty update. All operating systems now come under Terry Myerson, who previously headed up Windows Phone and the software giant's efforts to crack the mobile market.

"You don't do a major reorganization like this unless you have some serious problems," BGC analyst Colin Gillis said.

"It can be a major distraction. The details have to be ironed out, there will be a lot of water-cooler talk and that's happening as the company has some critical products coming out, like a unified phone, Xbox."

Ballmer is trying to bring products to the market faster and make the company more efficient, and wants to entice people to use Microsoft products, like Word and Office, on a variety of devices besides personal computers.

"We are rallying behind a single strategy as one company — not a collection of divisional strategies," Ballmer said in a memo to employees published on Microsoft's website on Thursday.

The company's shares were up 1.98 percent at $35.39 in midday trade on the Nasdaq.

A NEW ERA?

Microsoft has been struggling with sharply declining personal computer sales that cut into its software revenue as consumers and some businesses increasingly favor smartphones and tablets.

Worldwide PC shipments declined 11.4 percent in the second quarter, according to industry research firm IDC.

Ballmer, who took over as CEO from co-founder Bill Gates in 2000, said he wants the company to be more like Apple, which has roared past Microsoft in sales and stock market value in the past few years by smoothly melding its devices with online services such as iTunes.

Now, the four new engineering groups include Myerson's operating systems unit, and applications and services engineering to be led by Qi Lu, who previously oversaw the perennially money-losing online services arm. He also will be responsible for Office software, one of Microsoft's biggest cash cows.

Kurt DelBene, the former president of Microsoft Office, will retire. His departure follows that of gaming chief Don Mattrick, now CEO of Zynga, and Steven Sinofsky, formerly head of the Windows unit.

Satya Nadella, the company's leading authority on Internet infrastructure, takes over all Web-based cloud services such as Azure, which competes with Amazon.com Inc's AWS.

And Julie Larson-Green will head the devices and studios engineering group, supervising development of hardware and related software from the Surface tablet computers to the Xbox game console.

Units will also be dedicated to strategy and research, marketing and business development, Ballmer said.

"From a strategic perspective, it seems that they're just streamlining the operating groups to bring all...into one group, all the applications all the cloud focus, all the devices," Cross Research analyst Richard Williams said. "There's a certain logic to that that makes sense to us."

But it was unclear whether the changes will mean that Microsoft will offer less financial data about certain products, he said.

"It's a major concern if they use this opportunity to reduce the transparency, so we're hoping that's not the case," he said, adding he hoped for more details during a company conference call later Thursday.

Microsoft's last significant reorganization came in July 2008 when Ballmer split Microsoft's 'Platforms & Services Division' into three separate units - Windows, Online Services and Server and Tools.

India to intercept Blackberry chats

2013-07-11T19:33:00.000-07:00

Blackberry is ready to provide the Indian authorities with a way to intercept consumers' messages sent and received on its platform.

The news was revealed by the Times of India, which published part of a leaked government document.

It said officials appeared to have dropped demands that the firm also made it possible to access business emails sent over Blackberry Enterprise Server.

This would bring an end to a long-running dispute between the two sides.

In 2010 the country had threatened to impose a ban on Blackberry devices, saying its secret services needed to be able to access suspects' messages and have the keys to decrypt them in order to prevent terrorist attacks.

Blackberry has always said it does not have a "master key" or "backdoor" that would make encrypted corporate information sent through its service accessible either to itself or law enforcers.

The Times of India said the government now appeared to be "content" just being told which firms were using the Canadian company's Enterprise services.

'Lawful access'

The paper said it had seen an internal document from the country's Department of Telecommunications, which read: "Barring a few minor points for improvement of viewers, the lawful interception system for Blackberry services is ready for use."

It added that nine of 10 telecom networks offering Blackberry services were in the process of making it possible for authorities to carry out intercepts.

As a consequence, it said, authorities would be able to:

track email and email attachments sent over the consumer-version of Blackberry Internet Service (BIS)

see when chats sent over Blackberry Messenger (BBM) were delivered and read

monitor which websites were visited

It added that the Canadian firm would soon sign an agreement to hand over its own Mumbai (Bombay) based monitoring equipment and train government officials to use it.

Blackberry has issued a statement confirming its co-operation.

"The lawful access capability now available to Blackberry's carrier partners meets the standard required by the government of India for all consumer messaging services offered in the Indian marketplace," it said.

"We also wish to underscore, once again, that this enablement of lawful access does not extend to Blackberry Enterprise Server."

Apple encryption

The news has prompted some analysts to wonder if Apple will now become the focus of the Indian government's attention.

The iPhone-maker has said that all conversations on its iMessage and Facetime services use end-to-end encryption, so that nobody except the sender and receiver can make sense of them.

"India is about to become a very significant market for Apple - demand for premium smartphones is starting to rise quite quickly there among the affluent classes," said Chris Green, a technology analyst at the Davies Murphy Group consultancy.

"The pressure will be on it to cut a deal. Apple could either change its system just in India or overhaul its entire messaging system - but that would be awkward in light of the Prism revelations about how the US government carries out surveillance."

It may be some time before India is able to make full use of the information it already has access to.

A report in the Wall Street Journal earlier this week said the country was having problems with its Centralised Monitoring System - the system which will allow officials to link their equipment up to local telecom and internet service providers.

Among the issues reported was the fact that the current version of the software being deployed was not capable of allowing officers to search for specific keywords, meaning they would have to read through every captured message to find the information they wanted.

It added that the centralised data centre where the messages would be stored to be analysed was not yet operational, but should be by October.

Medicines watchdog recalls drugs

2013-07-11T19:31:00.000-07:00

The UK's medicines watchdog is recalling 16 prescription medicines made at an Indian factory which failed a routine inspection.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency wants pharmacies to return stock of the drugs made by Wockhardt at its Waluj site.

The recalled drugs include some for diabetes, schizophrenia and thyroid conditions.

But the MHRA stresses there is no evidence of a risk to patient safety.

Some of the drugs include Metformin, taken by people with Type 2 diabetes; Atenolol, used to treat high blood pressure and angina; Pramipexole for Parkinson's disease; Risperidone for schizophrenia and Clopidogrel for blood clots.

Erythromycin, an antibiotic given to children which is made at the Waluj site but imported by a separate company, Pinewood Laboratories Ltd, is another of the 16 drugs being recalled.

The MHRA says people do not need to return their medicines and that it is important patients continue to take them as prescribed.

It says there are other versions of most of the recalled drugs made by a range of pharmaceutical companies.

And it said where other versions of the same medicines were not available, there were substitutes which doctors could prescribe,

A statement from the MHRA said it was not recalling the medicines people had at home because, although they had not been manufactured to Good Manufacturing Practice standards, there was no evidence of a patient safety risk from medicines that have been sold in the UK.

However, it said it had to act in the public interest - and poor manufacturing standards could not be allowed to continue.

Import tests

An inspection at the Waluj factory in March found some risk of cross-contamination because of poor cleaning practices, and defects in building fabric and the ventilation systems at the site.

There was also evidence of forged documents relating to staff training records that had been re-written.

The MHRA says it is working with Wockhardt and other international regulators to resolve the issue.

The full range of conditions treated by the 16 medications include infections, high blood pressure, diabetes, epilepsy, depression, schizophrenia, Parkinson's disease, dementia in Alzheimer's patients and thyroid conditions.

Gerald Heddell, the MHRA's director of inspection, enforcement and standards, said: "This is a precautionary recall.

"People can be reassured that there is no evidence that medicines made by Wockhardt are defective so it's important people continue to take their medicines as prescribed.

"All batches of medicines manufactured outside the European Union are tested on importation to the UK before they reach patients.

"However, we have taken this precautionary action because the medicines have not been manufactured to the right regulatory standards.

"We are working with the Department of Health to ensure that people have access to the medicines they need.

"Anyone who has questions should speak to their pharmacist or GP."

Mass escape from Indonesian jail

2013-07-11T19:29:00.000-07:00

At least 150 prisoners have escaped from a jail in the Indonesian city of Medan on the island of Sumatra.

The breakout came during a riot that officials say may have been prompted by a power cut that knocked out supplies of pumped water.

Hundreds of police and soldiers have been trying to restore order at the prison, and combing the surrounding area for the escaped inmates.

Some of the fugitives were reportedly convicted of terrorism charges.

"The prisoners were annoyed by a blackout and problems getting water, which they said happens often at the prison," Heru Prakoso, a spokesman for North Sumatra province police told Agence France Presse.

"Prison officials told us that the inmates then set fire to the facility."

Some prisoners also reportedly seized guns and hurled bottles at their wardens and, according to police, about 15 prison officials were taken hostage.

The Tanjung Gusta Prison is known to have problems with overcrowding. It is thought to have held 2,400 prisoners despite having an official capacity of 400.

No review of decision on gas pricing: Moily

2013-07-11T19:25:00.000-07:00

India's decision to raise prices of locally produced gas will not be reviewed, the oil minister said on Thursday, allaying fears that New Delhi may consider a roll-back.

"No question of review of CCEA's (Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs) decision on gas pricing," Veerappa Moily told reporters.

India last month took the unpopular step of approving a gas price rise for the first time in three years, a move which could inject much needed investment in local production, but boost imports of more costly LNG.

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Demand for gas in India far outstrips consumption, but prices have been kept low for strategic industries, deterring investment in the sector. India has few energy resources other than coal and is the world's fourth-biggest importer of fuel.

Abu Dhabi's ADIA invests $200 million in India real estate: sources

2013-07-11T19:23:00.000-07:00

Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) plans to invest about $200 million in Indian real estate, two sources said, underscoring a trend for large Gulf sovereign wealth funds to diversify away from traditional developed markets such as Europe.

ADIA, which manages the surpluses the Gulf emirate earns from oil exports, has appointed Kotak Realty Fund, run by Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd (KTKM.NS), to invest the money, one of the sources familiar with the matter said.

Earlier this month, Oman's State General Reserve Fund and the Government of Singapore Investment Corp (GIC) GIC.UL and Temasek committed to invest $200 million in a real estate fund run by India's biggest mortgage lender, Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC.NS).

In May, Qatar paid $1.26 billion for a 5 percent stake in Indian telecoms firm Bharti Airtel Ltd (BRTI.NS), the world's fourth-biggest mobile phone company by customers.

India's finance minister P. Chidambaram visited the Gulf region in May for the second time in two months seeking investment in Asia's third-largest economy.

ADIA has investments of about $400-$500 million in India which includes an 11.22 percent stake in Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services and a $50 million investment in Red Fort Capital, a real estate private equity fund.

Kotak's appointment comes a little over a year after ADIA hired an India-dedicated investment manager for real estate and infrastructure to look at direct investment opportunities in the country.

Both sources declined to be named as the information is not public yet. ADIA and Kotak declined to comment.

ADIA, whose assets range from Citigroup (C.N) bonds to a stake in Britain's Gatwick airport, allocates between 5 to 10 percent of its portfolio to real estate and prefers to invest mainly through third-party fund managers or joint venture agreements, it said in its 2012 annual review.

The sovereign fund's real estate portfolio is widely believed to be skewed towards developed countries but it said in its review it is seeking more investments in emerging markets.

ADIA has undisclosed assets that analysts estimate at between $400-$600 billion - equivalent to about 1 percent of the value of the world's major stock exchanges.

Kotak Realty Fund has $811 million of assets under management and has invested in more than 32 real estate projects in India since it was set up in 2005, according to its website.

Nokia launches Lumia 1020 with 41-megapixel camera, Windows Phone 8

2013-07-11T18:51:00.001-07:00

Finland's Nokia unveiled its latest smartphone Thursday with a powerful 41-megapixel camera touted as offering "more detail than the eye can see."

In unveiling the new device in New York, Nokia said its Lumia 1020 smartphone "is able to produce some of the sharpest images possible by any digital camera."

The Windows-powered phone has six physical lenses and optical image stabilization, and can handle sound pressure levels six times louder than conventional smartphone microphones, the company said.

"We want to take people on a journey from capturing pictures to recording and sharing their lives," said Stephen Elop, president and chief executive.

"The Nokia Lumia 1020 will bring new meaning to pictures and continues to strengthen Nokia's leadership in imaging."

The phone, which will be sold in the US market this month and in Europe and China in the coming weeks, features a new photo application designed for professional quality images.

Using a feature called dual capture, the phone 1020 simultaneously takes a high resolution 38 megapixel image for editing opportunities, and a five-megapixel picture that is easy to share on social networks, Nokia said.

Nokia has seen its past glory fade under pressure of competition from Apple and Asian mobile phone makers.

Microsoft and Nokia joined forces about two years ago in an alliance aimed at making inroads with handsets powered by Windows Phone software.

Windows, boosted by the Windows Phone 8 introduced last year, boosted its US market share to 5.6 percent from 3.8 percent, according to a recent Kantar Worldpanel ComTech survey.

United States calls on China to 'abide by rules'

2013-07-11T18:51:00.000-07:00

Washington: The United States called on Thursday on China to abide by what it called international rules in areas from cyber-hacking to freedom at sea as the world's two largest economies waded into key disputes.

Chinese and US officials were wrapping up an annual two-day meeting designed to address the gamut of issues in their complicated relationship, with both sides looking for at least small ways to expand cooperation.

In a sign of the importance he attaches to managing ties with the rising Asian power, President Barack Obama - who generally meets only leaders from other nations - plans to receive the two main Chinese delegates at the White House.

Obama has invested time in seeking a smooth relationship with China's newly installed President Xi Jinping, meeting him for a weekend at a California desert resort last month, but has also stepped up the tone on hacking.

For the second day in a row, the United States raised charges that China has waged a vast hacking campaign to steal US trade and government secrets, costing the economy billions of dollars through the counterfeiting of products.

"As major powers looking to forge a new model of relations, our countries have a responsibility to show restraint in our actions and abide by the rules meant to govern international affairs," Deputy Secretary of State William Burns told a session.

"This means respecting the universality of human rights and addressing cyber-enabled theft of intellectual property," Burns said.

Burns also called on China to "uphold the freedom of navigation" in the economically vital waterways of Asia, where US allies Japan and the Philippines as well as Vietnam accuse Beijing of aggressively exerting its claims.

"Adhering to these and other global rules will help reduce uncertainty and, in turn, strengthen global security and increase steady economic growth," Burns said.

A US official said that Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday was "very forceful" on human rights concerns in China and raised specific cases. Burns later filled in for Kerry, who returned to Boston to see his hospitalized wife.

Vice President Joe Biden raised hacking concerns when he opened the talks on Wednesday, saying that "outright" theft by China "must be viewed as out of bounds and needs to stop."

China insists it is also the victim of hacking and has demanded answers after US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden charged that US spies had worked their way into the billion-plus nation's Internet network.

Chinese officials, who often bristle at US criticism, took a measured tone during the dialogue, whose format of formal, heavily scripted meetings is seen as appealing to Beijing.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying, asked in Beijing about Biden's remarks, said only that the two countries can make cyber-security "a new highlight of our bilateral cooperation instead of the source of friction."

Chinese Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng, addressing reporters on the sidelines of the talks, spoke of progress on reaching a treaty to protect and encourage investment between the two countries.

"We hope that on top of what has been done, both sides can initiate their negotiations on substantive parts of the bilateral investment treaty as soon as possible," he said.

Gao declined to give a more specific timeframe for the treaty, over which talks began five years ago.

The United States and China announced Wednesday that they would step up cooperation on fighting climate change, although their agreements were general in tone.

The two countries - which together pump out more than 40 per cent of carbon blamed for the planet's warming temperatures - said they would chart out plans by October in five areas including reducing emissions from heavy-duty vehicles.

Climate change is seen as a key area for collaboration as the leaders of both countries both see an interest in addressing the problem, even if Obama's efforts are hobbled by opposition in Congress.

Christiana Figueres, head of the UN climate body, called the agreements "welcome and important" and said that such efforts can help pave the way for an elusive successor treaty to the Kyoto Protocol.

Ford India recalls diesel variants of EcoSport

2013-07-11T18:48:00.000-07:00

New Delhi: US auto major Ford is recalling diesel variants of its newly launched compact SUV EcoSport in India to rectify defects in the instrument used as an aid in starting the engine.

"As part of routine checks, we discovered a potential concern with EcoSport diesel variants related to the Glow Plug Module which requires relocating the module. We are contacting customers to take their vehicle to their Ford dealership to have the work carried out," Ford India said in a statement on Thursday.

The company, however, did not share the number of vehicles it is recalling.

The company, which is present in the country through a wholly-owned subsidiary Ford India, added that no accidents or injuries have been reported related to the issue and this is a proactive, voluntary recall action to ensure customers' safety and satisfaction.

Ford had launched the much-awaited SUV in India last month at a starting price of Rs 5.59 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

The EcoSport is available with three engine options- 1 litre petrol with Ecoboost technology, 1.5 litre petrol and 1.5 litre diesel engine.

While the price of 1 litre Ecoboost petrol version starts at Rs 7.90 lakh, the 1.5 litre petrol variant is priced at Rs 5.59 lakh.

The EcoSport with 1.5 litre diesel has price starting at Rs 6.69 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). The automatic transmission version in 1.5 litre petrol starts at Rs. 8.45 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

Ford India has invested $142 million at its Chennai plant to manufacture the EcoSport. It is also investing $1 billion to set up its second production facility at Sanand that will be operational by 2014. The plant will have an installed output capacity of 2.4 lakh vehicles and 2.7 lakh engines annually.

With completion of the Sanand plant in Gujarat, Ford India will have a total installed capacity of rolling out 4.4 lakh vehicles and 6.1 lakh engines every year.

Supreme Court bars those in jail from contesting elections

2013-07-11T18:47:00.000-07:00

The Supreme Court has barred those in jail from contesting elections, a landmark ruling that will prevent jailed politicians from contesting even if they are not convicted of any crime yet.

This judgement came along with the court's verdict on Wednesday that MPs and MLAs convicted of a crime would stand disqualified from the date of conviction, and could not stay on even if they appealed to a higher court.

The top court has confirmed the 2004 order of the Patna High court, and agreed that "If a jailed person can't vote, a jailed person can't contest elections."

"A right to vote is a statutory right, the law gives it, and the law takes it away. Persons convicted of crime are kept away from elections. The court has no hesitation in interpreting the Constitution and the Laws framed under it, that persons in the lawful custody of the police also will not be voters, in which case, they will neither be electors. The law temporarily takes away the power of such persons to go anywhere near the election scene," said the Supreme Court.

Simply put, a person can't contest if he's in jail or police custody during the elections.

This could affect politicians like Jagan Reddy, who had been in jail for over a year in a disproportionate assets case.

The verdict is in response to a petition filed in 2004 by the Election Commission, which had been asked by the Patna High Court to strike off names of jailed persons from the voters list.

The poll panel had argued that the election process had already started, and it was too late to change the voters list. The Supreme Court had stayed the high court order at the time.

But experts say the verdict could be controversial, as it would bar jailed persons from contesting even if they have not been charge-sheeted. Many politicians say it opens a can of worms as it can be easily misused against political rivals.

Political parties had also been wary of the verdict disqualifying convicted MPs, since they feared it could be misused for score-settling, though parties like the Congress and BJP had officially welcomed it.

AERB green light for Kudankulam

2013-07-11T18:43:00.000-07:00

In a major relief to authorities of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant in Tamil Nadu, the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) has given its nod for controlled fission process or “first approach to criticality” (FAC) for the first unit of the plant.

The FAC is an important step towards the beginning of power production. An AERB release said that while granting the clearance for the FAC, it was ensured that the Supreme Court directives of May 6 were fully complied with. The approval was given after an in-depth review of associated safety aspects.

Clearance for the FAC, however, does not mean the stage is set for the commissioning of the plant soon. Several low-power tests will have to be carried out to verify the conformance of the reactor’s characteristics to design objectives.

The AERB would review the results of the tests before giving clearance for the next stage of commissioning, which would entail a phased increase in the power level of the reactor. However, a senior official of the Nuclear Power Corporation of India, which will operate the plant, declined to give any time frame for commissioning the plant.

கூடங்குளத்தில் மின்உற்பத்தி துவங்கியது

2013-07-11T18:42:00.000-07:00

திருநெல்வேலி: கூடங்குளம் அணுமின்நிலையத்தில், மின்உற்பத்திக்கான பணிகள், நேற்று நள்ளிரவில் துவங்கின. நெல்லை மாவட்டம் கூடங்குளத்தில், ஒவ்வொன்றும் 1000 மெகாவாட் மின்உற்பத்தி திறன் கொண்ட, இரண்டு அணுஉலைகள் அமைக்கப்பட்டுள்ளன.

முதலாவது உலையில், உற்பத்தியை துவக்கிய போது, பல்வேறு பிரச்னைகள் ஏற்பட்டன. கடந்த 2012 செப்டம்பரில், முதல் அணு உலையில் எரிபொருள் நிரப்புவதற்கான அனுமதி வழங்கப்பட்டது. எரிபொருள் நிரப்பும் பணி நிறைவடைந்த நிலையில், பாதுகாப்பு காரணங்களுக்காக, உற்பத்தி தள்ளி வைக்கப்பட்டது.

இந்நிலையில், முதலாவது உலையில் உற்பத்தியை துவக்க, அணுசக்தி ஒழுங்குமுறை ஆணையம் அனுமதி அளித்தது. இதன்படி, நேற்று நள்ளிரவு 11.50 மணிக்கு, செறிவூட்டப்பட்ட யுரேனியத்தை எரிபொருளாக கொண்டு, உற்பத்தி துவங்கியது.

அணுபிளவின் வெப்பத்தால், ஏற்படுத்தப்படும் நீராவியின் மூலம், "டர்பன்' களை சுழலச்செய்து, மின்உற்பத்தி செய்யப்படும். பணிகள் துவங்கினாலும், முழு உற்பத்தி கிடைக்க, சில நாட்கள் ஆகும்.

ஏ.இ.ஆர்.பி., அனுமதி:

முன்னதாக, கூடங்குளம் அணுமின் நிலையத்தின் முதல் பிரிவு செயல்பட, அணுசக்தி ஒழுங்குமுறை ஆணையமான, ஏ.இ.ஆர்.பி., அனுமதி வழங்கியுள்ளது.

இதுதொடர்பாக, அந்த ஆணையத்தின் செயலர் பட்டாச்சார்யா கூறியதாவது: கூடங்குளம் அணுமின் நிலையத்தின் பாதுகாப்பு தொடர்பாக, சமீபத்தில் நிபுணர்கள் ஆய்வு மேற்கொண்டனர். அந்த ஆய்வின் அடிப்படையில், அணுமின் நிலையம் செயல்பட அனுமதி வழங்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.

முதல்கட்டமாக, அணுக்களை பிளக்கும் நடவடிக்கைகள் துவங்கும். அதன்பின், மற்ற நடவடிக்கைகள் தொடரும். அணு உலையின் செயல்பாடுகளை உறுதி செய்ய, பல கட்ட சோதனைகள் நடத்தப்படும். அந்த சோதனையின் அடிப்படையிலேயே, மின் உற்பத்திக்கான அடுத்தடுத்த அனுமதி வழங்கப்படும்.

இவ்வாறு பட்டாச்சார்யா கூறினார். கூடங்குளம் அணுமின் நிலையத்தின் இயக்குனர் சுந்தர் கூறுகையில், ""அணுமின் நிலையம் செயல்பட, அணுசக்தி ஒழுங்குமுறை ஆணையம் அனுமதி அளித்துள்ளது மகிழ்ச்சி அளிக்கிறது.

இன்னும் சில, நடைமுறைகளை பின்பற்ற வேண்டியுள்ளது. அதன்பின், 45 நாட்களில், கூடங்குளம் அணுமின் நிலையத்தில், மின் உற்பத்தி துவங்கும். இவ்வாறு சுந்தர் கூறினார்.

TN ropes in private firms to wipe out power deficit

2013-07-09T23:52:00.000-07:00

In an attempt to bridge the power deficit — now 4,000 MW, but growing quickly — in the State, the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Ltd (Tangedco) has decided to award a long term power purchase contract for 1208 MW to four companies at a levelised tariff of Rs 4.910/Kwh for a period of 15 years.

According to informed sources, the impetus for this move comes from State Chief Minister Jayalalithaa herself.

The good news for private power producers is that she is learnt to have given further instructions that the entire 4,000 MW power deficit must be bridged in mission-mode through urgent award of similar competitive contracts to private power producers for the remaining power shortfall of 2,222 MW within the next 4 months.

Since Tamil Nadu doesn’t have its own coal, it is keen to rope in private power producers with preferential coal linkages or captive coal mines to generate power for the state. The decision to award the contract at Rs. 4.91/Kwh when the cost of production is far lower, displays the state’s willingness to pay a premium for power generation.

The minutes of the 38th Tangedco Board meeting held on June 28 record a resolve to issue letters of intent for this particular long term power purchase contract to DB Power, Jindal Power, Ind Bharat Energy (Utkal) and Balco.

Of a total of 12 bidders, these four companies are said to have submitted the lowest bids. As per the document, DB Power submitted the lowest levelised tariff of Rs 4.910/Kwh. Minutes from relevant files show that, after negotiation, DB Power offered an additional rebate of Rs. 0.02/unit for the first five years of power generation. The other three bidders have agreed to match DB Power’s levelised tariff with the additional rebate.

“The final negotiated levelised tariff is comparable with similar long term tenders finalised by Uttar Pradesh, medium term tender awarded by Tangedco, and provisional tariff of our joint venture Unit-II at Vallur, and hence considered reasonable and acceptable,” the minutes record. The total available capacity for Tamil Nadu is a little over 10,500 MW, excluding wind power, but the peak demand is forecast to be some 15,700 MW for 2013-14. Tangedco’s chairman and managing director adds that capacity addition from all ongoing projects commissioned during 2013-14 may only take care of the existing gap of 4,000 MW in supply. “We need to procure additional capacity for next three years viz, 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17, which on a conservative estimate will be of the order of 3000 MW at the rate of 1000 MW per annum since no new significant capacity addition is expected during these years from 2014-15 to 2016-17”.

The Board has estimated a requirement of roughly 2000 MVA for withdrawing the 40% power cut now being imposed on High Tension Industrial and Commercial consumers. “Continuance of Restriction and Control measures on Industrial and Commercial consumers is directly affecting the revenues of Tangedco since they are the most remunerative consumers of Tangedco,” it observes.

Yes, says State, to T. Nagar lot

2013-07-09T23:50:00.000-07:00

The construction of an automatic multi-level parking lot in one of the city’s most favoured shopping localities – and also one of the most crowded, T. Nagar, got a boost with the State government approving of the proposal.

The parking lot will come up on Bashyam Road near Panagal Park, and will be able to accommodate 500 cars and 900 motorcycles at a time.

This, according to shoppers and shop owners in the area, will help reduce congestion significantly.

The State government has granted permission to the Chennai Corporation’s proposal to construct the facility on a ‘design, build, operate and transfer’ basis at a cost of Rs. 25 crore. It has also agreed to provide Rs. 5 crore from the Tamil Nadu Infrastructure Development Fund.

The lot will come up on a 1,600 sq. mt. plot of land available on Bashyam Road. A study conducted by real estate services firm Jones Lang Lasalle a few years ago, had suggested that the lot be built entirely underground so that pedestrian traffic on the surface is not affected.

“Entries and exits were suggested on G. N. Chetty Road, Doraisamy Road and Venkatnarayana Road. This would have helped keep traffic at the entry and exit points smooth. However, that proposal was changed by the Corporation due to several civic difficulties,” said a planner, who was involved in the study initially.

The study had also suggested that the T. Nagar bus terminus be shifted to either Valluvar Kottam or Saidapet.

LKS Syed Ahamed, chairman of LKS Gold House in T. Nagar, who welcomed the announcement, said, “Perhaps the government could also think about a separate parking lot for vehicles of shop employees as their vehicles arrive daily. It could come up at the T. Nagar bus terminus.”

An official explained that the design for the facility would be prepared by the contractor. The Corporation will call for bids shortly, and the tendering process is likely to take six months. “Construction will take 18-24 months,” he said.

Meanwhile, the city’s first multi-level parking lot, which is coming up at Wallace Garden will take another six months to be completed. Work on the Rs. 30-crore facility began in late 2010 after the Corporation handed over the land to concessionaires.2010. after the Corporation

The civic body had earlier fixed a deadline of June this year for completion of the project, which is being constructed by a consortium formed by Marg Limited and Apollo Hospitals. December is the new deadline for the project.

Another project, which was to take off last year — the construction of a multi-level parking lot at the Broadway bus terminus — has been put on hold. “Chennai Metro Rail has taken a portion of the space temporarily. The Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority had also suggested some changes to the original designs proposed by the contractor so there will be some re-designing. Since a Metro station is coming up near the terminus. So we want to study the changes in traffic flow and re-design the Rs. 40-crore facility accordingly,” said an official.

The fourth project, which has remained on paper for want of takers, is the proposal for a two-wheeler parking facility in Flower Bazaar. “A 2008 study had suggested that a parking lot was required in the Parry’s Corner area. However, much water has flown under the bridge and a lot of changes have taken place in the area since then,” said a planner.

Air pollution 'hits failing hearts'

2013-07-09T23:46:00.000-07:00

Air pollution is harming people with weak hearts - even killing them, a big international study reveals.

Experts estimate the toll includes thousands of Britons each year.

The British Heart Foundation, which funded The Lancet work, says the UK must clean up its air - many of its cities often exceed safe levels set by the European Union.

The government has already admitted that in 15 regions, air quality will breach EU limits until 2020.

But Defra says it is committed to improving air quality and that most parts of the UK meet EU air quality limits for all pollutants.

Air pollution, largely from traffic fumes, has previously been linked to heart attacks but not heart failure.

This happens when the heart muscle becomes weak and less good at its job of pumping blood around the body. It is often the consequence of a heart attack and affects more than 750,000 people in the UK.

Deep into lungs

The Lancet research looked at 35 studies with data for thousands of patients in 12 countries, including the UK, the US and China.

The strongest link was found with gases such as carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide, as well as fine particulate air pollution - fumes from buses, taxis and lorries that can get deep into the lungs and, from there, into the bloodstream.

People with already weakened hearts who were exposed to high levels, by living near to or travelling along busy roads, for example, were particularly susceptible.

And the increased risk seems to be strongest on the day of exposure.

Dr Anoop Shah and colleagues who carried out the work say moderate reductions in air pollution could avoid 8,000 US hospital admissions for heart failure each year.

"There's no reason why the impact wouldn't be similar in the UK."

Alan Andrews of the lobby group Client Earth said: "The UK has a big problem with air pollution, particularly from road traffic, and the government response sadly has been worse than useless."

He said people should be alerted when pollution levels are high so that they can take measures to protect themselves, by staying indoors when possible and avoiding busy roads.

According to the World Health Organization, air pollution in towns and cities kills 1.3 million people globally each year.

UK estimates suggest nearly 30,000 people die prematurely each year as a direct result of exposure to air pollution. Air pollution has been linked to asthma and other lung diseases, including cancer, as well as heart problems.

The Chief Medical Officer recently highlighted the impact of air pollution in her first annual report on the state of the nation's health - air pollution was highlighted among the top 10 causes of mortality in the UK.

New idea tackles Earth core puzzle

2013-07-09T23:45:00.000-07:00

Scientists have proposed a radical new model for the make-up of the Earth's core.

The study may explain a longstanding puzzle about the most inaccessible part of our planet.

It suggests that differences between the east and west hemispheres of the core are explained by the way iron atoms pack together.

Details appear in the journal Scientific Reports.

Lying more than 5,000km beneath our feet, at the centre of the Earth, the core is beyond the reach of direct investigation. Broadly speaking, it consists of a solid sphere of metal sitting within a liquid outer core.

The inner core started to solidify more than a billion years ago. It has a radius of about 1,220km, but is growing by about 0.5mm each year.

But the stuff that the core is made from remains a longstanding unresolved problem.

Clues come from the speeds that seismic waves generated by earthquakes pass through the core.

These tell us its density and elasticity, but the precise arrangement of iron atoms forming the crystalline core controls these numbers.

How those atoms are arranged remains unclear, since the conditions of extreme pressure and temperature at the core cannot easily be replicated in the laboratory.

Seismic data indicate that the western and eastern hemispheres of Earth's inner core differ, and this has led some to suggest that the core was once subjected to an impulse - presumably from the collision of a space rock or planetoid which shook the whole Earth.

The core, it is suggested, is constantly moving sideways. As it does, the front side is melting and the rear side crystallising, but the core is held centrally by gravity.

With all these seismic complexities, the link between the crystal structure and the geophysical observations has yet to be resolved.

In Scientific Reports, Maurizio Mattesini from the Complutense University of Madrid, Spain, and colleagues propose a novel possibility for the structure of the core: that it is composed of mixtures of different iron arrangements distinguished by the way their atoms pack together.

By comparing seismic data from over one thousand earthquakes across the globe with quantum mechanical models for the properties of iron, they suggest that seismic variations directly reflect variations in the iron structure.

They propose that the eastern and western sides of the core differ in the extent of mixing of these distinct structures, and suggest their results account for the dynamic eastward drift of the core through time.

Their complicated picture of the core contrasts with earlier suggestions of a more uniform mineralogy. It has yet to incorporate the effects of minor amounts of other elements in the iron alloy actually thought to be there.

But Dr Arwen Deuss, a seismologist from the University of Cambridge, commented: "This is a step in the right direction, directly comparing seismology with mineral physical properties." She added that it should eventually provide a better understanding of the birth and evolution of our planet.